The former governor of Rivers State and now, Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has once again been accused by another Supreme Court Justice, Sylvester Ngwuta of trying to bribe him to overturn an election result.
He also accused Amaechi of masterminding the invasion of his home by Department of State Security Service.
Justice Ngwuta, in a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, said that Amaechi had approached him in 2013, where he asked him to set aside the election that produced Mr. Ayo Fayose as governor of Ekiti State and replace him with the former governor of Ekiti State who is now the minister of Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi.
He also said in the letter that Amaechi had also attempted to influence other Justices on the Rivers election panel.
Ngwuta said: “My present plight started sometime between 2013 and 2014. I represented the then Chief Justice of Nigeria in an event organised in the International Conference Centre.
“Honourable Rotimi Amaechi came in late and sat next to me at the high table. He introduced himself to me and we exchanged contacts. A few weeks after, Fayose’s case was determined in the Court of Appeal.
“Amaechi called me by 6.45 am. He said he had come to see me but was told I had left for my office. When he said he would return in the evening, I demanded to know what he wanted but he would not tell me.
“He did not come that evening but came the following morning when I was already prepared to go to work. He begged me to ensure that Fayose’s election was set aside and another election ordered for his friend Fayemi.”
In a related event, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday called on the judges accused of corruption to cease adjudicating on cases until the allegations against them are cleared.
The president of the umbrella body of lawyers called on them to purge themselves of the allegations first before sitting in judgement on cases.