FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT
MARYLAND

Ugwuonye v. Rotimi et al

Plaintiff: Ephraim Emeka Ugwuonye
Defendant: Oluwole Rotimi, Omoyele Sowore, Mobolaji Aluko and Domain by Proxy, Inc.

Case Number: 8:2009cv00658
Filed: March 13, 2009

Court: Maryland District Court
Office: Assault Libel & Slander Office [ Court Info ]
County: Montgomery
Presiding Judge: Judge Peter J. Messitte

Nature of Suit: Torts - Injury - Assault, Libel, and Slander
Cause: Diversity
Jurisdiction: Diversity
Jury Demanded By: 28:1332 Diversity-Libel, Assault,Slander
Amount Demanded: $9,999,000.00

References - Justia.com

Emeka:

1. You are yet to retract all the false allegations that you made
against me in connection with the Obama inaugural at the Nigerian
Embassy on January 19.

2. You are yet to show where I made any false allegations against you
or any other player in all of the ongoing controversy.

3. You have made another false allegation against Ambassador Rotimi
below - that he made an ethnic slur in a letter. When did "rag tag
Biafran army" become an ethnic slur - and to what ethnic group in
Nigeria? Or were you referring to any other part of the letter? Or
is the accurate history of the Biafran defeat on the battlegrounds,
acceptance of its surrender, and cessation of its secession bid of
the Biafra, ragtag army or not, now an ethnic slur? Or is this the
latest attempt at historical airbrushing and national blackmail?

Let's keep all of these in perspective.

Over to you.

Bolaji Aluko




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From: Ephraim Ugwuonye

Ola, (feel freed to forward this to your mailing group and Bolaji Aluko, in particular).

I can actually correct an impression right away. I am still representing the Embassy of Nigeria on other matters even as we speak and no one has indicated that they are not satisfied with my work in general. Second, the Ambassador already complained to the Bar and his complaint is recommended for dismissal for lack of merit. Ambassador Rotimi knew that my actions were sound: all he wants is simply to disclose Embassy transactions indirectly by forcing me into defending my actions. That way, he hopes that Nigerians would forget the true reason for his recall. Also, you may ask yourselves this question: the entire payment on the real estate transaction totaling over $25m passed through me. I gave all that money to the Embassy without incident; why would I withhold only $1.5m if my goal was to take their money improperly?

Finally, for your information, the tax refund in question came to us 6 months after Obiozor left Washington and 4 months after Rotimi assumed office. So, all that happened occurred during Rotimi’s tenure. Why are they trying to drag Obiozor into it if not because they want to emphasize that both I and Obiozor are Igbos? Do you know that Obiozor was not the one that signed any of my retainer agreements. That was done by a property management committee comprising of 5 top officers of the Embassy. Indeed, you know that I have been representing the Embassy well before Obiozor became the Ambassador. You also know that Obiozor was not my friend per se. Indeed, he arrived in Washington at a time that the NIDO conflict had thoroughly demonized me before the arriving Ambassador. In fact, it took Obiozor nearly a year in office before he looked at me and told me: “Emeka, you are actually a nice guy, contrary to what I was told.” What is wrong if Ambassador Obiozor is my friend? Ambassador Rotimi is Bolaji Aluko’s friend, which is why he allowed Bolaji to host for personal profit an inauguration party at the Embassy premises in January. Did you hear anybody ask how Bolaji could charge $200 for attending an event that was deceptively characterized an Embassy event, while it was indeed a private venture that made money for the organizers? If it had been called Bolaji’s inaugural party and held in Bolaji’s house for $200 a ticket, how many people do you think would have attended? I am not accusing Bolaji of any wrongdoing. Rather, I am saying it may be normal to have an Ambassador who befriends members of the society.

Many of you would never know what kind of work I have done for the Nigerian Government and the Embassy over the years. For instance, who do you think was giving the Embassy of Nigeria legal advice as it went through the fight between Obasanjo and Atiku over the Congress Jefferson’s scandal that led to the FBI search of the house of a sitting Nigerian Vice President? Do you realize the considerable risk I took as people on Obasanjo’s side repeatedly forwarded my memos to Atiku’s people and I got disturbing calls from Atiku’s supporters? Around June of last year, the house in which this Ambassador Rotimi lives was forefeited for tax lien by the Government. Guess what, Amabassador Rotimi forgot to pay the garbage disposal fees to the county and the county government was going to auction his residence. Who do you think saved the situation? I can give you dozens of other occasions when I intervened to solve their problems. Ask Ambassador Rotimi if he ever said a thank you to me how much more pay a dime to me for saving his little butt. Maybe he would have wanted to live in a hotel for a while or maybe have his own opportunity to buy properties in Washington . Unfortunately, I cannot speak beyond these comments because I am bound by confidentiality obligations. I will speak at the appropriate time. When you see my memos to the Government on each transaction, you will see that I gave them discounts on agreed fees approximately up to 25% in each case. I voluntarily gave back money to the Government of Nigeria. How many people can do that? I cannot allow Ambassador Rotimi to drag me into a gutter war, where the intended casualty is the integrity of the Government of Nigeria.

Ephraim Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire
President
ECULAW GROUP