They added that the judicial officer is so enmeshed with Wike that the governor permanently has lawyers stationed in his court to monitor his cases.
The Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi says that his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, masterminded the court judgment which sacked him as governor.
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court had on Tuesday removed the governor and his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
On Sunday, SaharaReporters exposed how Wike has been using the judge for ‘dirty jobs’.
Sources at the Federal High Court in Abuja said Justice Ekwo is known as “Wike Judge”.
They added that the judicial officer is so enmeshed with Wike that the governor permanently has lawyers stationed in his court to monitor his cases.
“Were you surprised when Governor Umahi criticised Justice Ekwo over the judgment, describing him as a hatchet man? Justice Ekwo is known as ‘Wike Judge’ here,” a source had told SaharaReporters.
“He is so enmeshed with Wike that Wike permanently has lawyers stationed in his court to monitor his cases.
“The Rivers State governor is known as the ‘Golden Boy’ of the judiciary over his ability to bribe judges at all levels. He was known to have awarded the contract of building the Court of Appeal to a sitting judge, President of the Court of Appeal, then, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.
“Back to Justice Ekwo, some of the cases with him are cases Wike is directly or indirectly involved in.”
Governor Umahi in a statement issued on Monday by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Francis Nwaze said he was in possession of a video showing how Wike claimed responsibility for the court judgment.
“We have come across a video by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike in which he was quoted as saying that he masterminded the Abuja High Court judgment on Governor David Umahi’s defection to All Progressives Congress, APC.
“Not much surprised at the comment though, we would have ignored it as one of his blubbering but it has become imperative we make a few annotations for clarity.
“Wike from the statement has taken responsibility for the pronouncement of the Federal High Court, thus requiring that he explains to Nigerians how he now calls the shots in the nation’s judiciary without being a Judge,” the statement said.