Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, wife of Adamu Bulkachuwa, Senator who represented Bauchi North in the 9th Assembly, has stated that nobody influenced her judicial decisions.
OsunDailyNG reports that the retired Appeal Court President was reacting to comments by her husband that he used his position to ask favour for his colleagues from his wife.
Recall that Bulkachuwa had revealed he often influenced the decisions of his wife, a former President of the Court of Appeal, Zainab Bulkachuwa, while she was in office.
The former Bauchi Senator made this known last Saturday while speaking during the Senate Valedictory Session on the floor of the Red Chamber.
He had said: “Particularly, my wife, whose freedom and independence I encroached upon while she was in office. And she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment and extended her help to my colleague.”
The immediate past Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the valedictory session, interrupted the Bauchi Senator before he spoke any further.
However, Bulkachuwa’s comments elicited outrage from a cross-section of Nigerians on and off social media, with Olisa Agbakoba, former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), calling for the arrest of the former lawmaker.
But in a statement on Sunday, Justice Bulkachuwa said such insinuation was far from the truth.
She said: “My attention has been drawn to the trending video of what was said by my husband Senator Adamu M. Bulkachuwa. I want to state categorically that I never at any time compromised my oath of office to favour any party who appeared before me throughout my judicial career spanning 40 years of service to my country.
“My decisions were always based on the facts, the law and in accordance with my conscience and oath of office.
“Also, as President of the Court of Appeal, my fellow justices of the court can attest to the fact that I never interfered with the independence of any of the justices of the court in the discharge of their judicial functions.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with BBC Hausa, Senator Bulkachuwa said his words were misrepresented.
He also added that the former President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, interrupted him while he was explaining.
“Well, I was not even allowed to finish, I just started with some words like thanking her, saying she was patient with me as she was legal practitioner and I am a politician.
“I wanted to elaborate on the specific nature of the help she provided, as there exists a wide range of support that professionals in various fields, such as legal practitioners, doctors, or engineers, can offer in their respective roles.
“Note that this assistance does not involve any illegal or unethical activities. In my personal relationship with her, I have never imposed upon her professional autonomy or attempted to influence her judgment in handling cases or running her office. Such matters are not even discussed in our home,” he had said.
