The Department of State Services, DSS, Sunday, denied ever indccting the Chairman of the Preidential Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, for bribery and corruption.
The DSS made the denial in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by the Service’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Peter Afunanya, urging the public to disregard the report, saying it only existed in the imagination of the authors.
Afunanya, who described the report as “unfortunate”, insisted that making the falsehood public was unethical.
Hinting that the service had commenced a detailed investigation into the controversies surrounding the publication. Afunanya advised politicians to be law-abiding and respect the process of litigations regarding the activities of the tribunal “and leave the service alone”.
Promising that the DSS would continue to collaborate with the media as strategic partners in nation-building, the DSS spokesman admonished media practitioners to be law-abiding and professional in the execution of their responsibility.
“The DSS remains unwavering in providing the enabling environment for the pursuit of legitimate aspirations by well-meaning and law-abiding members of the populace.”
Also reacting to the allegation of indictment against Justice Bulkachuwa, the presidency accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP of peddling false news.
The senior special assistant to the President Buhari on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said in a statement in Abuja that reports claiming that the DSS had indicted Bulkachuwa of corruption, were designed to cause disaffection between the executive and the judiciary.
“While the PDP and its candidates are free to exercise their right to challenge the results of the 2019 presidential election, it is unacceptable to drag the name of the president or other organs of the executive branch into the campaign of character assassination against the President of the Court of Appeal.
“Attacking judges because the outcomes of cases don’t favour you and keeping quiet when the verdict is in your favour smacks of insincerity, double standard and mischief. The PDP praised the verdict of the Osun gubernatorial election tribunal because it favoured them, but they are now singing a different tune because they lost their appeal.
“If the PDP continues to blackmail and smear judges with fake news stories, we will ultimately find ourselves dealing with a situation where judges may be afraid to handle cases, thereby creating delays in the dispensation of justice”, Shehu said.
,©Ripples
