The Minister
of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has disassociate himself
from allegations contained a letter purportedly written by Honourable Justice
Inyang Okoro to the Nigeria Judicial Council.
In a
press release on Wednesday, Amaechi said the letter by Honourable Justice Okoro
is a poor attempt to politicize what is clearly a serious National tragedy and
shame.
He
believes that the issues of corruption at the highest levels of our judiciary
should be addressed objectively.
"It
is to say the least demeaning and childish of a Justice of the Supreme Court to
imply that the security operatives of our nation will arrest a Justice of our
Supreme Court for no reason other than the instructions of a Minister. Those
faced with serious allegations should treat the issue with the seriousness it
deserves and stop trying to court public sympathy and trivialize what is
clearly a national tragedy, Amaechi said.
Amaechi
said he has directed his lawyers to contact Justice Okoro and take whatever
legal steps as may be necessary to clear his name of this baseless allegation.
Excerpt
is the full statement by Rotimi Amaechi:
IN THE MATTER OF THE ARREST OF HONOURABLE
JUSTICE INYANG OKORO JSC BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE SECURITY SERVICES AND HIS
UNFOUNDED AND FALSE ALLEGATIONS
My attention has been drawn to a letter
purportedly written by Honourable Justice Inyang Okoro JSC, Justice of the
Supreme Court, one of the Learned Justices recently arrested by the Department
of State Services as part of its investigation into the allegations of massive
corruption involving some officers of the Nigerian Judiciary. Given the level
of mischief in the Social Media, I would ordinarily have ignored the letter
because the allegations contained in the said letter are wild, baseless and
unrelated to the issues in contention between the Honourable Justice of the
Supreme Court and the Department of State Services, to that extent I had grave
reservation if this letter could have emanated from His Lordship.
However, for the avoidance of doubt, let me say
clearly that I have never discussed any matter pending before the Supreme Court
of Nigeria with my Lord, Honourable Justice Inyang Okoro JSC, in his house or
anywhere else, Period. I make bold to also state that the first and only time I
have ever spoken with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Honourable Justice
Mahmud Mohammed GCON was at the Commissioning of the Abuja-Kaduna Railway Project
on the 26th of July 2016 at Idu in Abuja.
The letter by Honourable Justice Okoro is a
poor attempt to politicize what is clearly a serious National tragedy and
shame. I believe that the issues of corruption at the highest levels of our
judiciary should be addressed objectively. It is to say the least demeaning and
childish of a Justice of the Supreme Court to imply that the security
operatives of our nation will arrest a Justice of our Supreme Court for no
reason other than the instructions of a Minister. Those faced with serious
allegations should treat the issue with the seriousness it deserves and stop
trying to court public sympathy and trivialize what is clearly a national
tragedy.
I have directed my lawyers to contact my Lord
Justice Okoro and take whatever legal steps as may be necessary to clear my
name of this baseless allegation.
Finally, let me advise His Lordship Justice
Inyang Okoro to be objective in dealing with the issue at hand and not whip up
unnecessary sentiments against innocent public officers. I remain focused on my
assignment at the Federal Ministry of Transportation and I have no control over
Department of State Services
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