Hon Itse Ishaya Debunks Allegation Of Receiving Bribe From Hon Rufus Bature Led Faction

Yakubu Busari

The All Progressives Congress, APC, faction Plateau State Chapter led by Hon Itse Ishaya has debunked the allegations of fraudulent means of alleged conniving with Hon Rufus Bature led faction to collect bribe of N2million as the baseless saying is just a  plot by mischief makers to destroy his integrity and his political career.

 

Speaking in an exclusive interview with our correspondent in Jos Hon Itse Ishaya stated with total regret that he has never held any secret meeting behind closed door with the Hon Rufus Bature led faction that the meetings were at the instance of Hon Garba Pankwal who is a close associate of Bature.

 

 

He said, my concern is that as one family, we need to come together towards resolving the lingering issues out of court settlement which we all sat down and took that decision.

 

We all agreed among us on the terms of agreement which we can come up with it, we said the issue be give and take, they said yes according to Hon Rufus Bature we were all brief by Hon Garba Pankwal.

 

On the Second thought, we think back and went over and then we being having series of meetings with the factional groups to reach the final conclusion on how each and every member of the APC faction will agree.

 

He explained further that Rufus Bature urged every one of us to spell out his own conditions that might bring an end to this feud, those that are interested in state Exco, National officer, or appointment should put that on the table.

 

Hon Itse Ishaya maintained that you people surprise me simply because after the far-reaching decision of removing the matter in court the issue of legal fees was left on him (Hon Rufus Bature) to pay the lawyer and we step up on how to stop the legal battle.

 

He said after that we all came to the conclusion where an agreement was reached on the issue of, “give and take “and other charges we have to sacrifice that, there and then he directed his lawyer to contact our lawyer to complete the fee payment.

 

Hon Itse Ishaya reinstated that during the Rufus Bature peaceful settlement, we agree that this has brought to the conclusion was Rufus Bature immediately gave each and every member the sum of N100,000.00 totally N800,000.00 to the 8 Exco led by me.

 

He reiterated that after that we move out of his quest house and put a call to our lawyer to draft a letter of discontinuation with the case on the 23-11-2021 and we finalist it on the 27-11-2021 at about 6 am.

 

When the lawyer drafted the letter of notification he sent it through my WhatsApp page and I  forwarded it to all the Exco for them to input their own conditions before taking it to court but nobody says anything to me till momentum, he noted.

 

Hon Itse stated that until when the lawyer completed the filing process in court some of my Exco started calling me that they were not part of the agreement reached when they visited the former APC chairman Hon Letep Dabang.

 

He added we took the matter to the APC Elder forum and they intervened and appreciated the resolution of removing the matter out of court settlement is very important, but with the visit to the former APC chairman Hon Latep Dabang the issue changed and they are speaking different thing altogether.

 

 

Hon Itse explained further that we approach the court seeking the interpretation of the APC illegal congress held which our position was clear.

 

We are challenging the election of Hon Rufus Bature led Exco that the exercise was not in conformity with APC guidelines of section 223 article 13.6 and section 234,223 of the federal republic of Nigeria.

 

Meanwhile, he said the negotiation has not ended, we will still continue with it even after the withdrawal in court, we said the court should dismiss the Rufus Bature led Exco and fresh primaries be instituted because our suit challenge the Rufus Bature, organizing secretary, assistant organizing secretary, women leader, so I’m surprised why they are accusing of collecting bribe and issuing fake information about integrity.

 

Hon advised the Exco to stop blackmailing me upon a decision we all sat down and agreed to write the court via our lawyer.

 

He appealed that the alleged conniving to receive the money I have not done that, every one of new that I have been the one bringing out funds for legal fees, filing even the 100,000.00 appearance fee of the lawyer in court.