Retract bribery allegation against appeal court justices, lawyers tell Sen. Abbo

By Vivian Okejeme Abuja

Some senior lawyers have called on Senator Elisha Abbo to retract the unsubstantiated allegations of bribery and corruption made against the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem.

According to the lawyers,
Senator Abbo in his reckless and unconscionable Press Briefing described the President of the Court of Appeal as a cash-and-carry Judge, adding that Judges now send their children and agents to go around asking for bribes.

The lawyers led by Uwemedimo Nwoko, stating that Abbo has not produced any iota of evidence to substantiate his weighty allegations.

Senator Abbo, a former senator representing Adamawa north, in the press conference said Nwosu-Iheme and members of the panel made up of Muhammad Ibrahim and Olabode Adegbehingbe erred when they declared Amos Yohanna of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the duly elected senator of the district.

Also, Senator Abbo, accused Justice Chioma Nwosu, elevated from the court of appeal to the supreme court, some Justices of the Court of Appeal and Judges of the various Tribunals.

The former senator said he had written the NJC and Tinubu to stop the elevation of Nwosu-Iheme into the supreme court until an investigation is conducted.

Reacting to the allegation, the Lawyers therefore called on the senator to retracted the allegations publicly or face the consequences of his actions in court.

He maintained that this brand of nonsense and unprovoked attacks against Judicial Officers and the Judiciary must stop.

“We take very strong exceptions to the criminal blackmail deliberately fabricated and calculated to impugn on the integrity and reputation of our revered and hardworking Judges and Justices by characters like Senator Abbo.

“May I remind Senator Abbo that when he lost the case that removed him from the Senate, he openly accused the Senate President, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio, CON of being the architect of his misfortune. When he was confronted with the task to prove
the allegation he promptly went on his knees and apologised profusely to Senator Akpabio and retracted the allegations.

“It is sad and most unfortunate that this Senator who shot into the limelight on account of his misconduct in a Sex Toy Shop in Abuja would have the criminal courage and effrontery to malign, denigrade and make such invidious imputations against our Justices and judiciary simply because he lost a case.

“I wish to state most categorically that it is totally unacceptable, morally reprehensible and legally culpable for a person with Senator Abbo’s moral credentials and profound deficits in character content to embark on such character assassination against our Justices who have sacrificially built their good reputations over the years,” he said.