The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers state has given Justice Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court, a 7-day ultimatum, within which to withdraw the allegation of bribery against the minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi or be prepared to go to jail.

Okoro had accused Amaechi of being behind his arrest by the Department of State Security, DSS, saying that the minister was persecuting him for refusing to compromise the election cases of Abia, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States.

Amaechi, the immediate past Rivers State governor, had since denied the allegation.

The Rivers APC, in a statement by the chairman, Davies Ikanya, said Okoro’s allegation breaches the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000, describing it as “wild and baseless.”

The party pointed out that while the judgement in the election dispute was given by the Supreme Court on January 27, 2015, Okoro alleged that Amaechi tried to bribe him on February 1, 2015.

“One does not need a soothsayer to see that Justice Okoro is very confused and thinks that by mentioning the name of Amaechi in his letter, he would deceive Nigerians and play down the gravity of his sins and crimes against Rivers State people and Nigeria as a whole,” the statement read.

Ikanya wondered why Amaechi would approach Justice Okoro seeking to influence an election that was marred by irregularities and violence, and had been upturned by both the Tribunal and the Appeal Court.

He added that justice Okoro, if his claims were true, had violated the provisions of section 23, sub-section 1 of the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000, which makes it mandatory for any public officer to report any offer of bribe to the police or the ICPC, failure of which the public officer would be “liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand naira or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both fine and imprisonment.”

The Rivers APC chairman further state: “For failing to report the fictional bribery attempt by Amaechi, Justice Okoro has committed an offence that attracts up to two years imprisonment.

“We are hereby giving him one week to retract his worthless and satanic letter and apologise to Amaechi or we may be forced to set in motion a machinery to invoke the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000.”