The Department of State Services, DSS, has said it never indicted the Chairman, Presidential Election Tribunal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, for bribery and corruption.
It urged the public to discountenance any report suggesting she had been indicted saying it was only in the mind of the authors. It also said it has launched an investigation into the publication.
Public Relations Officer of the service, Mr. Peter Afunanya, who was reacting to reports of the justice being indicted, in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, said the report was “unfortunate.”
He also noted that making the falsehood public was “unethical.”
Afunanya cautioned politicians to be law-abiding and respect the process of litigation with regards to the activities of the tribunal and not drag the service into it.
He assured however, that the service would continue to collaborate with the media as strategic partners in nation-building.
The Public Relations officer warned mischief makers causing disaffection in the polity to refrain from such as the full weight of the law would be visited on them.
“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,” he said.
Meanwhile, the presidency has berated the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for peddling the false news about Bulkachuwa.
READ ALSO: Seized Properties: Saraki Says EFCC being Mischievous
Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said in a statement in Abuja that reports that the DSS had indicted Bulkachuwa of corruption were designed to cause disaffection between the executive and the judiciary.
He said: “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.
“The DSS doesn’t conduct its duties in the manner so described and you can’t use a fake security report to drag the presidency into a smear campaign 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.”
