The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says allegations of bribery against Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi by Justices Inyang Okoro and Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court have been linked to several top Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders.

In a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Thursday, signed by Chief (Dr.) Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, Chairman of APC in Rivers State, the party claimed that governors of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, Delta, Ifeanyi Okowa, Akwa Ibom, Udom Emmanuel and the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, who is now the Senate Minority Leader, (all PDP leaders) have been linked to the Supreme Court Justices’ allegations against Amaechi.

“These big four PDP politicians are said to be the biggest spenders who allegedly induced and bribed the Supreme Court Justices with hefty sums of money to get favorable judgments. They are said to be the major sources of the money, wealth and properties that has been traced by the DSS to Justices Okoro and Ngwuta,” the APC said in the statement.

It further claimed: “These PDP bigwigs are said to have advised the Justices to drag Amaechi into their arrest and investigation by the DSS. They believe doing so would muddle the waters, divert the media and public attention from the corruption allegations against them and make the whole arrest and investigations look like a political vendetta against the Justices. Our findings indicate that they told the Justices that the Buhari government is after them, wants to bring them down, and that they must drag Amaechi down as well. They deceived the Justices to think and believe that Amaechi is the one behind their travails because of some state governorship electoral matters the apex court handled, that the APC lost. Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Delta governorship election appeals were cited to hoodwink Justices Okoro and Ngwuta into believing that Amaechi orchestrated their arrest and investigation.

“It would be recalled that in the recent past, a few media outlets, especially Sahara Reporters had written articles on the scandal and the link between Justices Okoro and Ngwuta of the apex court and these four PDP leaders. Sahara Reporters had specifically written about how huge sums of money in different currencies, were channeled by these PDP leaders to induce the Supreme Court Justices to influence Supreme Court rulings and get favourable judgments in the governorship election appeals of Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Delta states.

“And Amaechi was targeted because the four of them – Wike, Akpabio, Udom and Okowa - see Amaechi as a big threat to their political ambitions and calculations ahead of 2019 elections. All four are from the South-South region, just like Amaechi. They are scared of Amaechi, his closeness to President Muhammadu Buhari and they are afraid that Amaechi continual towering presence in the Buhari administration would truncate their plans and calculations for 2019. They want to damage Amaechi irreparably and destroy him politically. The ultimate target is President Buhari, and to get to the President, the conspiracy is to take out Amaechi, first. Furthermore, our investigations reveal that all four PDP leaders hold one grudge or another against Amaechi. They desperately seek to destroy him. But they will fail.”

•Photo shows Amaechi.

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