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By Madu Obi
THE senior special assistant on public enlightenment to the national chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Oliver Okpala, has warned those seeking the arrest of Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje to stop maligning the APC national chairman, saying that Ganduje cannot be intimidated by anti corruption imposters.
A petition against Ganduje was co-signed by Dr. Johnson Nebechi and Comrade Umar Ideresu, who are the convener and spokesperson of the group known as National Anti-Corruption Alliance, NACA.
In a statement on Monday, Okpala said it was clear that the petitioners were not respecters of the rule of law, accusing them of merely raising spurious issues.
Okpala's statement read: "The attention of the Public Enlightenment Unit of the All Progressives Congress, APC National Chairman has been drawn to a report claiming that a coalition of 51 anti-corruption groups have formally petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC seeking the arrest and prosecution of the National Chairman of APC and former Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
"The issues raised and canvassed in their petition are matters that form the key points in various cases filed by the Kano State government against Dr. Ganduje, which are still before the courts.
Ideally, these issues should not be discussed, especially in this manner until the decision of the courts on the cases. This is the minimum standard expected of every decent individual or organisation.
It is elementary knowledge that you cannot take issues or matters pending in court to law enforcement agencies or anti-corruption bodies. As things stand, these matters are prejudice.
It should also be noted that most of the issues raised by the petitioners have been decided by the Federal High Court in favour of Dr. Ganduje. They have the facts but have vowed that what they cannot achieve legitimately through the courts, they will get through mudslinging .
Nigeria is not a lawless society, the judiciary must be allowed to carry out its job without inhibition or intimidations.
Ganduje is a respected citizen of the country and he deserves the right to the due process of the judicial system without any harassment."
Okpala described the petitioners are members of an illegal organisation not known to law as they are not registered by any State or Federal agency.
According to him, it is clear that the issues raised by them are politically motivated and are without any tangible evidence or legal backing.
"Agencies of government deal with organisations that are reputable and not those that are not recognized by law. Therefore, these petitioners can at best be described as political hirelings with a motive of destroying the hard -earned social and political integrity of Dr Umar Ganduje", he said.
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