APGA Crisis: Judge Hands Off Case Over Alleged N18m Bribe, Orders Court To Recognize Agbaso

The Enugu High Court 2 presiding Judge, Justice Rueben Onuora, yesterday, washed his hands off the suit between two factions of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, headed by its national chairman, Chief Martin Agbaso, on one hand and former national chairman, Chief Victor Oye, over alleged N18 million bribe offered him by an unnamed politician.

Last month, an Order of Mandamus granted by the court restrained Oye as national chairman while Agbaso was recognized as the authentic national chairman of the party.

Consequently, the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognize Agbaso as the national chairman.

Following the court order, the faction headed by Oye applied for a leave of the court to appeal the matter.

But yesterday, the presiding judge ruled that he would not entertain the matter in its entirety on grounds that he was seeing the casefile for the first time that morning.

Astonishingly, the judge announced that there was an attempt to bribe him with N18 million by a politician who dropped his phone number in a letter to him.

He said: “I have been receiving several calls from people on this matter. I received calls in the morning, afternoon and night all on this same matter.”

He called up the court clerk who read the letter aloud to the court. In the letter, the author told the judge that the N18 million for him was in his possession and added that a national chairman of APGA could only be removed from office through a national convention of the party.

The judge warned desperate politicians to always allow the law to take its course just as he referred back the casefile to the Enugu Chief Judge for reassignment to another judge.

~Vanguard