Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has said those accusing the judiciary of being corrupt are not clean.
He said while judicial corruption undermines courts’ credibility, those who are quick to throw tantrum at judiciary, particularly legal practitioners, are also culpable in the act.
Wike stated this Monday night during a state banquet organised at the Government House, Port Harcourt, in honour of Justice Mary Peter Odili, on her 70th birthday and retirement from the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“For me, those who are abusing judiciary of corruption, their hands are not clean. Anybody who is abusing judiciary or judges, their hands are not clean. But, that does not also mean that even you in the judiciary should not keep your house in order. That is the truth.”
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Rivers governor urged state High Courts to abide by the provisions of the new Electoral Act, which prohibits them from handling pre-election or electoral matters.
He alleged that some state High Courts were already acting in contravention of the law.
“The truth is that the Electoral Act says anything about pre-election or electoral matters, is now to be decided by the Federal High Court.”
Wike said he remains eternally grateful to Justice Mary Odili for creating the opportunity for him to meet her husband and former governor of the state, Dr. Peter Odili, when he ventured into partisan politics in 1998.
He said there is no politician serving at the federal or state level since 1999 from the state that would deny not passing through the tutelage of Dr. Odili.
He said despite the generosity of the former governor, Odili, and his family, some of those whom they had helped politically, have regrettably betrayed and humiliated them.
“I have never seen a man who has suffered humiliation, I have never seen a man who has suffered betrayal in life like Dr. Odili.”
He said Odili’s insistence that someone from the Ikwerre extraction succeeds him as governor in 2007, earned him some enemies.
“Dr. Odili biggest problem in this state today, people must know the truth, is because he said Ikwerre man must become governor; that’s it. If any man tells you that Odili has committed any other sin, it’s a lie. It’s just because he said Ikwerre man must become governor. Unfortunately, we the Ikwerre people whom he said should be governor are the ones that put him in the witness box. But, I want to appeal to him, forgive, you are a Christian. You are a Christian, forgive all of us.”
Wike, who recalled how the Odili family suffered blackmail and humiliation because of him, vowed never to grieve or engage in act that would bring them into disrepute.
He said Odili’s fatherly counsel had been one of the reasons he has succeeded in the governance and transformation of Rivers State since 2015. In his remarks on behalf of his family, former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili, said all through his wife’s career as a judicial officer, he never attempted to influence her in any matter.
Odili recalled two instances when a late traditional ruler in Port Harcourt and his extended family members from Ndoni had approached him to intervene in matters before his wife’s court, but he declined and offered to help them pay their legal fees.
Odili thanked Governor Wike and the people of Rivers State for honouring his wife after 44 years of meritorious service in the judiciary.
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, represented by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun described Mary Odili, as an epitome of dignity, hard work, fairness and excellence and an inspiration to the girl child.
