By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has exonerated Justice Peter Odo Lifu of the Federal High Court from the $1 million bribery allegation filed against him by some overzealous petitioners in respect of his rulings on political related matters in Rivers State.
The four petitions filed against Justice Lifu were outrightly dismissed by NJC.
The allegations, which accused the judge of accepting bribes, including $1 million, a bulletproof car, and a plot of land, were found to be baseless, after the petitioners failed/refused to appear and substantiate their claims before the NJC probe panel.
The petitions, initially filed by the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Emeka Beke, were based on claims that Justice Lifu had been improperly influenced in his decisions.
However, when the judge appeared before the NJC, the petitioners were nowhere to be found to provide evidence of the bribery allegations. Consequently, the NJC concluded that the petitions were unsubstantiated and dismissed them.
The NJC’s report outlined that one of the petitioners, Mr. Douglas W. Chukwu, Secretary of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, had previously expressed interest in participating in the hearing but failed to appear, leading to the rejection of his petition.
Furthermore, the NJC found that the allegations of inducement involving a bulletproof car and land were unfounded. It also noted that the petitioners had not disclosed a related case at the Rivers State High Court, indicating potential forum shopping.
Also, the NJC dismissed two additional petitions from the Chairman of the Boot Party in Rivers State, Abednego Oli Benjamin, who had also accused the judge of bribery and misconduct in Ex-parte orders. The NJC found no evidence to support these claims, and the ex- parte orders are now subjects of ongoing appeals.
In its ruling, the NJC stressed that the petitioners’ allegations were unfounded, and that the judge had not acted with personal interest or misconduct.
The Council also clearly stated that it would report any legal practitioners involved in filing frivolous petitions aimed at discrediting judicial officers to the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) or the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) for further action.
