By Olisemeka Sony

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Assistant on Prosecution and Chairman of the Special Presidential Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, OkoiObono-Obla, has denied allegations of theft and defamation leveled against him by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

Mr. Obono-Obla who described, Ekerenmadu’s claims that he in connivance with a former chief judge of Enugu State, Justice Innocent Umezulike, and a lawyer, Tagbo Ike, broke into the probate registry to steal his will as ‘childish’, also threatened to sue the Enugu West Senator for damages if he fails to retract his statements within 48 hours.

Mr. Obono-Obla’s angry statement issued on his behalf by his lawyers, Mr. F Baba Isa follows Ekwerenmadu’s earlier statement on Monday, accusing the presidential aide of spearheading a campaign to tarnish his image. “This accusation constitutes a gross smear on the hard-earned reputation of our client, Mr. Obono-Obla, and we have the further instruction to institute a N5 billion defamation suit in a court of competent jurisdiction if, 48 hours, after the issuance of this press statement, Mr. Ekweremadu does not retract his accusation and apologise unconditionally to Chief OkoiObono-Obla,” said the lawyers.

They explained that Mr. Obono-Obla is not aware of any smear campaign against Mr. Ekweremadu, let alone spearheading it, stressing that the accusation against the presidential aide is a well-oiled mechanism of playing the victim.

“They cannot turn round to play the victim. Nigerians are the real victims. It is on record that the Special Presidential Panel for the Recovery of Public Property headed by Mr. Obono-Obla is investigating how Mr. Ekweremadu and others illegally acquired houses meant for the senate leadership, houses which are intended to be national monuments,” the lawyers said.

The statement read further: “If he has committed offence, let him go and face the law, let him not drag me into his personal troubles with the people of Enugu state. I don’t know Innocent Umezulike. I am a lawyer. I don’t practice in Enugu. I’m a public officer, I’m doing my work; he should leave me alone and stop being childish. The allegations are childish and if he defames my character I will sue him.

“How can he say I stole his will? What business do I have to do with his will? If he has stolen from Nigerians or if he has amassed properties he cannot explain then let him go and face the law and stop beating about the bush. If he’s alleged to have stolen, let him face Umezulike who is in Enugu state like him. I’m not from Enugu state. I’m from Cross-River state. I’m just a humble civil servant. I’m doing my work and I cannot be intimidated.”

Mr. Obono-Obla also denied allegation that he is using SaharaReporters to smear Mr. Ekweremadu’s image. “I’m not working with SaharaReporters, so, what have I got to do with SaharaReporters? I’m very disappointed that a man of his standing would make such juvenile allegations against me,” he said.

Orient Daily recalled that the Deputy Senate President had on Monday accused Mr. Obono-Obla, of stealing and manipulating his will in connivance with a former Chief Judge of Enugu State, Innocent Umezulike, and a lawyer, Tagbo Ike.

Mr. Ekweremadu in the statement titled “This Too Shall Pass” and signed by his Special Adviser on Media, UcheAnichukwu, said the trio stole his will, leaving behind a photocopy which had, in it, imaginary properties. The statements read in parts. “There has been a sustained smear campaign against my person by Mr. OkoiObono-Obla, using Sahara Reporters, and other unsuspecting media outfits in the past few weeks.

“I would have continued to ignore them, but for the concern of my well-wishers. Therefore, the public may wish to know as follows: About July 2016, former Chief Judge of Enugu State, Hon. Justice Innocent Umezulike, in his capacity as the Chief Judge of Enugu State at the time, together with his lawyer, and Barrister Tagbo Ike, in connivance with some politicians, broke into the Probate Registry, Enugu, took away my will, and left behind a photocopy.

“They copied the properties listed in the will and added many imaginary properties and started churning out baseless petitions to government agencies and officials,” the statement read.

SaharaReporters had on March 1, 2018 published a story on how the ownership of two high-end London properties valued at £4million was traced to Mr. Ekweremadu. The online medium also later published a petition written by Mr. Umezulike, asking the National Security Adviser (NSA), BabaganaMonguno, to order the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe how Mr. Ekweremadu acquired 32 choice properties in Nigeria and abroad.

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In the petition, Mr. Umezulike claimed Mr. Ekweremadu’s lifestyle and the properties he has acquired are not justified by his source of income and should be probed under Section 7 (1) (b) of the EFCC Act.

Ekweremadu, in his reaction, faulted the accuracy of the petition but kept mum on the allegations. According to him: “In their petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, for instance, they claimed, in a demonstration of gross ignorance, that I was given money by the federal government to develop the South East geopolitical zone, but that I used it to purchase 32 properties.

“They sent similar petitions to Mr. President, the Vice President, Senate President, Attorney-General of the Federation, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Code of Conduct Bureau, Director-General of the Department of State Security, Inspector-General of Police, Commissioner of Police (Enugu), among others.

“I do not intend to respond, for now, to the smear campaign related to the 2019 election, which is spearheaded by OkoiObono-Obla, using Sahara Reporters. I will speak more on this subject at the appropriate time.

“For now, let me state that Justice Innocent Umezulike has since been dismissed from service by the National Judicial Council and is facing trial in different courts. God is also on top of the matter in several other ways in the life of Justice Umezulike’s.

“It suffices to add that, with what is unfolding now, the current smear campaign championed by Mr. OkoiObono-Obla, is helping to expose those who acted with Justice Umezulike, to steal my will. They have been peddling this so-called ‘discovery’ since July 2016.

“Umezulike has also, in several other petitions, attacked myself and my family. He also, at some point, accused me of killing several people, which the office of the Inspector-General of Police investigated; and probably, he will soon face appropriate charges bordering on false information.

“Let me, therefore, call on all those, who are concerned about this smear campaign, not to worry. This too shall pass. History will vindicate the just and the wicked will never go unpunished.”

https://orientdailynews.com.ng/news/property-saga-buharis-aide-threatens/