The Enugu
State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Ben Nwoye, has
attributed his invitation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) t
o a petition accusing him of diverting the sum of N20.4m belonging to
the party by two women.Nwoye was at the EFCC Enugu zonal office between the
hours of 10 a.m. and 6.45 p.m. on Thursday for questioning over a petition
written to the anti graft agency by two faceless women, Ngozi Okoli and Rose
Ogbonna.
While the
drama lasted, State officials and members of the party in the state kept vigil
within the EFCC office in solidarity.Nwoye later emerged from the office at
about 6.45 pm, from where he headed straight to his Enugu residence, where he
addressed journalists.
According to
the Enugu APC boss, his invitation” bordered on a petition by some faceless
individuals accusing him of diverting the sum of N20.4m”He blamed his ordeal on
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku, an SA to
President Buhari.
He narrated
his story thus: “what happened today (Thursday) is a struggle for democracy and
in struggle for democracy it is usually tough to truly understand who are the
real soldiers; these women and men that are here today, they are the real
soldiers, because they stood for what they believe in, they stood for their
right, they stood for truth, they stood for justice, they stood for fairness
and they stood for equity.
“I was
invited by the EFCC, but what struck me was that the invitation came from
Benin, with a forwarding letter that I should report to Benin; it was in
December. Upon investigation, I came to find out that it was a falsehood
orchestrated by Juliet Ibekaku, working in consonance with the minister for
foreign affairs, in an attempt to remove me from an office I was elected.
“Juliet, who
was once a director in the EFCC used her connection and contact and illegally
corrupted certain individuals and having them invited me to Benin, but thanks
to God that we have honest people within the EFCC, and so, that petition was
transferred, but the intent was to detain me in Benin in an effort to blackmail
me, tarnish my name, in retaliation for my call for the removal of the
minister. So, it was orchestrated as a retaliatory act against my person, but
due to the honesty of men and women in the EFCC, they transferred it to Enugu.
“On reaching
to Enugu, they used the name of two individuals, they had a lawyer, who put
together a two-page petition, with the name of the petitioner, one Ngozi Okoli,
unknown to the party, and another Rose Ogbonna, also unknown to the party, as
President and secretary, respectively of what they tagged Enugu State APC women
leaders’ forum. There is no such forum; our constitution does not recognize
such body known as women leaders’ forum.
“They alleged
that I was given money to purchase vehicles for women leaders, vehicles for
youths, vehicles for state secretary and I embezzled the money. They claimed
that the money came from the national secretariat and that it was N20.4m, and
it was given to me with directives to do that.“Of course, no such thing took
place, but because I believe in the system, we believe that the system we put
together will have to work for us. Those who sponsored it, those who
orchestrated it will someday come to answer. The men and women in the EFCC have
looked at it, I have answered the questions, and we will continue it from
there.
“We were
there from around 10 a.m until about 6.45 p.m. members of the State Exco were
there and they all know that you can’t make up facts but because Juliet Ibekaku
wants to be a senator or wants the opportunity to have a ticket, she believes
that the only way she can remove me is by putting together falsehood and
selling it to EFCC.
“And
Minister in his collaboration believes that Ben Nwoye must go; he was not a
member of our party, we defend this party, we built this party in Enugu, as an
alternative platform; while we were building the party as an alternative
platform, Juliet Ibekaku was working in the EFCC as a director.
“She goes
about telling people that the minister for justice controls the legal
department and that she will rubbish anybody; that the minister of justice
controls the EFCC, she uses the name of gentleman, an honourable minister that
nobody can stand her way, because she wants a senatorial ticket. She convinces
a minister, (Onyeama) who is not a politician to attempt to change the party
structure, and when that failed, they connived together, put together a fraudulent
claim, a malicious claim, so that I will be maliciously prosecuted”.
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