Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana has denied granting an interview where he was said to have condemned the Court of Appeal judgment on the governorship election in Akwa Ibom State.

The erudite lawyer in a statement on Wednesday said he could not have condemned a judgment that was well grounded in law, describing the purpoted interview as a hatchet job.

The statement reads:

My attention has just been drawn to an obnoxious publication of an interview that I never granted. In the fake interview, I was alleged to have condemned the judgment of the Court of Appeal in respect of the governorship election in Akwa Ibom State. I did not grant the interview ascribed to me by the hack writers. In fact, I could not have condemned the judgment as it is well grounded in law. The so called interview is a hatchet job in every material particular.

Those who know me will attest to the fact that I have never supported the rigging of elections in any manner whatsoever and howsoever. Hence, I have consistently supported the use of PVC and Card Readers which were strenuously opposed by election manipulators in the country.

As a lawyer, I have never represented election riggers in any court or tribunal. As a public commentator, I have regularly advocated for the prosecution of election riggers in Nigeria and in other African countries.

Having recently obtained judgments in election petitions that were anchored on the integrity of card readers I could not have challenged the sound and logical judgment of the Court of Appeal which was essentially based on the use of card readers. It is indubitably clear that the hired writers behind the purported interview granted by me are desperately looking for credibility to justify the subversion of the democratic wishes of the people of Akwa Ibom state. I am however compelled to caution the serial riggers of elections in Akwa Ibom to desist from using my name to justify their impunity.

On a personal note, a client of mine, Dr. Ime Umanah was one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State who ensured that the wishes of the people were respected this time around. He kept me abreast of developments in the political terrain of Akwa Ibom State until his untimely death in a ghastly road accident while he was travelling to Uyo to attend the court where he was facing a trumped up charge filed against him by the former government. If only for his memory I could never have associated myself with the satanic forces in Akwa Ibom state.

Femi Falana SAN