The Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that it has discovered a plot by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to bribe the House of Assembly election tribunal currently sitting at Asaba, the state capital.
According to the APC, the 23 PDP members in the state House of Assembly, whose elections are currently being challenged at the tribunal, contributed N5m each as part of the plot to compromise members of the tribunal, particularly panel 2 and 3.
Speaking to our correspondent, a chieftain of the APC in the state who pleaded not to be named, stated that the N115m is allegedly routed through a prominent member of the assembly, alleged to be a close associate of one of the tribunal judges.
According to the source, a principal officer of the ssembly, in what he termed acts of desperation to save his seat, is working seriously to compromise the tribunal judges.
According to him, “as part of their strategies, cases affecting PDP principal officers will not be determined until the 180 days period allowed by the electoral act elapses, and one those to benefit from this move is the speaker.”
The APC chieftain stated further that the party will formally file a complaint to the Department of State Services, DSS, to investigate the allegation, adding that the party will also bring the matter to the attention of the National Judicial Commission (NJC) and other relevant agencies.
A lawmaker, who spoke in confidence on the development, denied being involved, but however, confirmed the allegation, saying that a PDP member in the assembly approached him to buy into the project in order to get victory at the tribunal.
He added that since he was very confident that he won his election fair and square, he did not need to undermine justice.
However, debunking the allegation, the Chief Press Secretary to the Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Henry Ebireri, in a press statement, described the allegation as wicked, baseless and reckless.
Ebireri also described the allegation that the speaker approached a lawmaker to bring N5million to settle the panel of judges at the tribunal as fabrications aimed at undermining the speaker’s integrity.
“The Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Monday Igbuya, is an honest and highly effective speaker. He has built a reputation anchored on integrity over the years,” he added.