Abuja - Facts have began to emerged that some of the election petitions tribunals in Nigeria may have compromised their integrity as there are indications that some of them are involved in N2.3bn bribery scandal.

About N1.5bn was said to have been paid into certain bank accounts for tribunal members in one of the states in the South-South geo-political zone.

Also, N800m was allegedly paid into another bank account for tribunal members in one of the states in the North-West zone.

The allegation of graft against some tribunals came just as the House of Representatives Committee on Justice had written to the Nigerian Bar Association, soliciting its partnership in maintaining the sanctity of the judicial process.

States and identities of the judges involved in the alleged scandal have not been established.

Authoritative sources, however, disclosed to our correspondent exclusively that bank statements, showing how the N2.3bn was lodged, were attached as evidence to petitions sent to appropriate institutions.

It was gathered that the petitioners widely circulated their petitions to several watchdogs of the judiciary, including relevant committees in the National Assembly.

A source in the House of Representatives said that the Committee on Justice had received 82 petitions on how electoral petitions were handled and how some tribunals compromised their integrity.

The source said, “As at last Friday, a total of 82 petitions have been received by the committee and some of them contain bank statements of N800m and another N1.5bn paid out to two tribunals.

“The committee is studying the petitions and after our investigations, some of the cases will be referred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.”

But the House committee on justice, chaired by Mr. Henry Seriake Dickson, has written to the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) President, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, seeking the partnership of the body in probing abuses and compromises against the tribunals.

The letter reads in part, “I write to inform you that the Committee on Justice is in receipt of several petitions written by different persons concerning the conduct of the various election and appeal tribunals currently sitting as a result of the 2007 general election.

“The committee in the exercise of its oversight function has written to the Honorable President of the Court of Appeal requesting certified true copies of all the rulings and judgments delivered by the tribunals at both the trial and appellate levels of petitions filed as a result of the 2007 general elections.

It noted that scrutinizing the judgments delivered by the tribunals was not an attempt to review their decisions, but an exercise of its constitutional oversight functions.

“The overriding objective,” it stressed,” was to “investigate and expose corruption, inefficiency and abuse of power and office.”

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