Former Aviation Minister Stella Oduah and her well-connected cohorts within the Presidency have bribed a majority of justices on a panel of the Court of Appeal that is scheduled to deliver judgment on February 6 in a case to determine the legitimate senatorial candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra.
Speaking to a correspondent of SaharaReporters, a senior judicial staff as well as a source within the headquarters of the PDP disclosed that Ms. Oduah and her group have bought several justices of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, particularly the presiding Justice Abdulkadir Jega, to declare her the party’s rightful senatorial candidate for Anambra north senatorial zone. Our judicial source disclosed that Justice Jega is related to Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Justice Jega is heading a panel of justices that will rule on an appeal filed by PDP in a case tagged PDP vs. Ejike Oguebego and 2 others. Judgment has been fixed for (today) February 6, 2015.
On February 2, Justice Jega had made an astonishing confession during a hearing to the effect that the President of the Court of Appeal and Chief Justice of Nigeria were pressuring the appellate justices to hear the appeal quickly. “It’s amazing that Nigeria’s top justices would take an undue interest in the hearing of a case that is, relatively speaking, of minor import,” said one lawyer familiar with the case.
Ms. Oduah had declared herself a senatorial candidate following an ostensible primary that her opponents say never held. “This woman just used the money she stole when she was a minister to buy some powerful people in the PDP headquarters and they allowed her to say she is the senatorial candidate,” one PDP member in Anambra State said.
Ms. Oduah’s shady deals as a minister were exposed by this website after she caused the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, an agency under her control, to spend $1.6 million to pay for two bullet-proof BMW cars that were never delivered.
In a stunning reversal of fortunes for her, INEC had excluded her name from a list of candidates released by the electoral commission. But Ms. Oduah continued to campaign for the Senate, a move that one of our sources said reflected assurances she received from the judiciary that judgment would be given in her favor.
Our sources said Ms. Oduah enjoyed the unflinching support of Secretary to the Federal Government Anyim Pius Anyim in her push to influence judgment in her favor. Mr. Anyim, a former Senate president, reportedly owes loyalty to Ms. Oduah because the former Aviation Minister awarded him significant contracts when she was on the cabinet.