The National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, Muiz Banire, has said that the money he paid into the account of a judge was a gift not bribe money.
Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, denied media reports claiming he had been quizzed by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for transferring N500,000 into a judge’s bank account.
According to the former Lagos commissioner, he was neither arrested nor invited by the EFCC. He said he voluntarily visited the Commission to assist in their investigation of the matter.
“I did not give any bribe of the sum of N500,000 or any amount to any judge at any time whatsoever,” said Mr. Banire, a former commissioner in Lagos State.
“The person to whom I gave a gift of N500,000 in 2013 was a former colleague in the academia, a fellow lawyer whom I now understand to be a judge with whom I had lost physical contact for more than 17 years until probably three years ago when he solicited for my financial assistance towards his mother’s burial,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
Media reports over the past few days had placed Mr. Banire, a former lecturer at the University of Lagos, among those involved in bribing of judges.
Following the arrest of some judges last month by operatives of the State Security Service, the EFCC had launched a massive investigation into allegations of bribery of judges by some senior lawyers.
Mr. Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, allegedly transferred N500, 000 into the bank account of James Agbadu-Fishim, a judge at the National Industrial Court.
Mr. Agbadu-Fishim was among the judges who reported to the Lagos office of the EFCC on October 19 to write statements on the findings.
Reports said Mr. Banire was questioned for over six hours and his international passport seized by the anti-graft agency.
On Sunday, the senior lawyer said he had never appeared before Mr. Agbadu-Fishim either as a lawyer or a litigant, adding that he only ran into him on November 3 at the EFCC premises.
He was, however, silent on whether his travel documents were actually seized by the Commission.
“I have never taken any benefit from the said recipient of my generosity and have never expected any in return,” Mr. Banire said.
“The occasion of the gift was purely customary for the purpose of assisting in the burial of his deceased mother.
“I must say this kind of assistance is not peculiar to this old colleague but that which is the nature of my usual disposition to all, colleagues, associations, students, clubs, religious bodies and humanity in general.
“I am a strong advocate of anti-corruption campaign and will never descend into the insanity of offering bribe to pervert the course of justice.”
