The Peoples Democratic Party has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the allegations Supreme Court Justice John Inyang Okoro made against Rotimi Amaechi and Umanah Umanah on Wednesday.
In a statement by the party’s spokesman Dayo Adeyeye, the PDP view the allegation as “grievous, dangerous, criminal and unhealthy for our democracy and the rule of law.
“This information by a high ranking Judge must not be swept under the carpet like previous petitions and the Report of the Rivers State Judiciary Commission of Inquiry that revealed so many misappropriations of funds by the former Governor when he held sway from 2007 to 2015,” the statement read in part.
“We wish His Lordship, Justice InyangOkoro and the CJN/Chairman of NJC did not keep quite over this bribery attempt since February 2016until now for an administration that has touted to have zero tolerance for corruption.”
According to the party, this allegation against the former governor of Rivers State and now minister of transport, has again vindicated the PDP that there are so many corrupt leaders and members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) enjoying immunity because of party affiliation.
“We wish to therefore reiterate that the recent arbitrary and Gestapo style of arrest, detention and release of Justices of the High Court, Appeal Court and Supreme Court by the APC led administration is a charade targeted at gagging the Nigerian judiciary to sway justice in favour of the president and his party, the APC.”
The party said it condemned again in the strongest terms the frequent use of security agencies by Buhari to molest, harass and intimidate well-meaning Nigerians and opposition figures in the country.
Referring to a statement the president made during his visit to Germany, the PDP said Buhari just confirmed he is fighting opposition in Nigeria,
The president had said, “It is not easy to do away with your opposition. Or people who have not followed you along your campaign trail.”
“Finally, we call on the President and Commander In Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency, investigate this weighty allegation and prosecute the perpetrators,” the party said.
“We once again call on the Judiciary to remain neutral and fearless by this orchestrated threat to our democracy.”
Nigeria to take back its position from S’ Africa by December
The International Monetary Fund has projected that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product would hit $415.08bn at the end of this year, from $493.831bn, its value at the end of 2015. thereby stating the possibility of Nigeria taking back its position as Africa’s biggest economy from South Africa.
In its latest report, the IMFI predicted that South Africa’s GDP would hit $280.367bn for this year, down from $314.732bn it actually recorded a year ago.
The body expects the Nigerian economy to grow by 0.6 per cent in 2017, while global growth is projected to slow to 3.1 per cent this year before recovering to 3.4 per cent in 2017.
“The picture for sub-Saharan Africa is increasingly one of multispeed growth. While growth projections were revised down substantially in the region, they mostly reflect challenging macroeconomic conditions in its largest economies, which are adjusting to lower commodity revenues,” the Bretton institution said in the report entitled: ‘World Economic Outlook October 2016: Subdued Demand, Symptoms and Remedies’.
“While growth in emerging Asia and especially India continues to be resilient, the largest economies in sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, South Africa and Angola) are experiencing sharp slowdowns or recessions as lower commodity prices interact with difficult domestic political and economic conditions. Brazil and Russia continue to face challenging macroeconomic conditions, but their outlook has strengthened somewhat relative to last April.”
Accordiing to the report, activity slowed down in sub-Saharan Africa, led by Nigeria, where (oil) production was disrupted by shortages of foreign exchange, militant activity in the Niger Delta, and electricity blackouts.
For South Africa, the momentum was flat, despite the improvements in the external environment, notably stabilisation in China.
Elsewhere, resilience in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal and Tanzania partially offset generally softer activity across the region.”
Reacting to the projections, an economist and Chief Executive Officer, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said, “The Nigerian economy has bigger prospect than that of the South Africa. South Africa cannot boast of what Nigeria has. Our population is 180 million of which 70 million belong to the productive age group. South Africa is less than 60 million people.
“All economic sectors have potential for growth. Therefore, with appropriate policy measures, it should be bigger and stronger than that of South Africa in the near future.”