DSS Raid: Akpabio, Udom anxious.

HOW JUSTICE INYANG OKORO WAS DECEIVED TO INDICT APC

ANIEKAN UMANA, NWOKO FINGERED AS SPONSORS OF FAKE OPEN LETTER

These are anxious times for former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Senator Godswill Akpabio and his estranged godson, Governor Udom Emmanuel.

Both are very worried that continued prodding of the embattled Supreme Court judge, Justice Inyang Okoro, may inevitably expose how money allegedly exchanged hands during the post election tribunal.

With the prosecution of Justice Okoro only a matter of days, state government agents are allegedly digging up all the tricks in their bags to draw attention from the damning evidences found in the judge’s home.

According to our source, Senator Akpabio had ordered the sacked commissioner for justice and state attorney general, Mr. Uwemedimo Nwoko, to immediately use the radio to blatantly lie to Akwa Ibom people that not a dime was found in the home of the Okoro’s, with the intention to maintain a façade that the judge was being victimized.

Unfortunately, the judge was not informed of the plan to deploy the state propaganda machine to begin attacking federal government on his behalf.

Eventually, Nwoko allegedly told him that the state was raising in his defense considering the implication of losing an Akwa Ibom person sitting at the apex court after decades since late Sir Udo Udoma.

The judge was allegedly coached on how to fight back and given a draft of the open letter that will paint him as an innocent victim of witch hunting. However, the judge revealed that he has already conceded that huge amount of money found in his home, were his.

Our source, further disclosed that former commissioner for information, Elder Aniekan Umana and his colleague, Nwoko then decided to draw up an open letter addressed to the National Judicial Council and given to the embattled justice to sign, alleging victimization and persecution.

He claimed that an aide of governor, who does odd jobs for state government, Mr. Essien Ndueso, informed him that his boss, Aniekan Umana and Uwememdimo Nwoko worked on the letter and delivered it to the judge with an aim to indict top APC chieftains in the South South in order to caused the ruling party to call off the ongoing corruption investigation.

  “He informed me that idea was to embarrass the ruling government. That once the names of top APC leaders like Mr. Rotimi Ameachi or Umana Okon Umana surfaced federal government will call withdraw the case to avoid embarrassment”.

Confirming this report, a Government House official disclosed that a letter emanated from the state, pointing out that a simple test for its source would be to note that the points raised in the letter were similar to ongoing narrative by government officials concerning the incident.

“The Inyang Okoro letter is clearly similar to what people like Nwoko, Ini Emenobong and Aniekan Umana have all said concerning the incident”.

Attempts to get comments from the state PDP publicity secretary, Mr. Ini Ememobong, was unsuccessful as he was said to be attaining a meeting.

Former commissioners, Aniekan Umana and Uwemedimo Nwoko could not be reach for comment.  

Meanwhile, the 2015 Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom state, Obong Umana Okon Umana, has refuted spurious claims by the embattled Supreme Court Justice, John Inyang Okoro, against him following the judge’s arrest and detention by security agents for alleged corruption.

A press statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr. Iboro Otongaran, state as follows:

The attention of Mr Umana Okon Umana, Akwa Ibom APC governorship candidate in the 2015 election has been drawn to a letter purportedly written by Justice Inyang Okoro and addressed to the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria.

In the said letter, Justice Okoro alleged without evidence that Umana visited his residence (Justice Okoro’s) and made a “request to help him win his appeal before the Supreme Court.” We would like to respond to Justice Okoro’s baseless allegation as follows:

1) The meeting Justice Okoro is reporting is fiction. No such meeting to discuss how to bribe judges took place between him, Mr Umana Okon Umana and Dr (Pastor) Ebebe Ukpong as alleged.

2) If we assume, without conceding, that such a meeting took place, for a man of Justice Okoro’s standing and knowledge of the law, he ought to have known the legal implications of such a visit, and should have reported it to appropriate authorities immediately. He did not do that, but he is only reacting after the authorities have established a case against him.

3) Justice Okoro’s claim in his purported letter to the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria is therefore not only false, it is diversionary and an afterthought.

4) Justice Okoro should address himself to the facts of the case, which is between him and the State, and leave Umana out of it.

5) Contrary to Justice Okoro’s claim, Umana had no appeal before the Supreme Court arising from any court judgment on the 2015 governorship election in Akwa Ibom State. Umana had won at the Court of Appeal and therefore was not and couldn’t have been an appellant at the Supreme Court. Umana had won both at the tribunal and at the Court of Appeal. He was therefore confident of victory at the Supreme Court because of the concurrent judgments of the lower courts.

6) It would be recalled that after the Supreme Court judgment, which ignored the concurrent judgments of both the tribunal and the Court of Appeal, and also totally disregarded the reports of the international observers, including those of the United States Government and the European Union which stated that the elections in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states were marred by widespread violence and irregularities, Umana had issued a statement expressing disappointment at the verdict and said he had moved on and left everything in the hands of God. Umana should therefore be left alone.

(C)THE GUIDE NESPAPER