Abe – I Never Described Judiciary As ‘419’

The senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 28 National Assembly election for Rivers Southeast, Magnus Ngei Abe, has denied ever describing the judiciary as ‘419’.

The former senator said he had absolute confidence in the Judiciary, adding that he would continue to hold judicial officers in high esteem.

Abe was reacting at the weekend to a statement credited to him that he impugned on the integrity of the Judiciary when he addressed his supporters at his Bera hometown in Gokana Local Government Area.

The former Senate Committee Chairman on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), said he was misquoted in his remarks, which followed the verdict of the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja, striking out his petition against Olaka Nwogu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He noted that it was the condition the tribunal gave him to provide witnesses from every unit in his senatorial district within five days that he described as ‘419’, and not the Judiciary.

Abe insisted that there was no election in Rivers State, particularly in his Gokana Local Government Area, in the March 28 and April 11 elections even as he vowed to appeal the Tribunal’s ruling.

Abe said: “…Everybody in Nigeria knows that there was no election in Rivers State. The outcome of our case at the tribunal was not satisfactory. So, we have decided, in keeping with the decision of the APC in Rivers State, that we must seek justice for you and for all of us.

“We have decided that we must proceed to the Court of Appeal to appeal against the decision of the lower court. A lot of comments have been made about the decision of the court. Most regrettably, one of the comments that people keep referring to is to say that Senator Abe said it was judicial 419. In making reference to that comment, everybody else forgot everything else that I said in that comment”.