The International Criminal Court ICC has denied the claim that it invited President Muhammadu Buhari as its keynote speaker during its 20th anniversary because he had the highest rating on integrity.
A lawmaker, Abdulmumin Jibrin in an interview on a national television in July, claimed that the ICC invited Buhari as its keynote speaker. He is the only president that achieved the highest indices on integrity in a check carried out by security agencies from twenty European countries and the United States of America on both serving and former African leaders.
However, ICC spokesperson, Fadi El Abdallah in an email exchange via the Public Affairs unit of the court said, the International Criminal Court ICC is not involved in any integrity or background check of world leaders.
He added that it has been standard practice for the ICC to invite Heads of State one at a time for high-level events, such as anniversary commemorations but also the opening of the judicial year, adding that this is because of logistical and protocol reasons involved in hosting dignitaries at that level. The presidency declined to confirm or refute the claim.