Ozekhome Petitions Magu over N450m Enugu PDP Campaign Funds
in Enugu Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Mike Ozekhome, has asked the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, to take over the on-going investigation into the disbursement of N450 million, allegedly, sent to the Enugu State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party by the party’s national headquarters during the 2015 presidential election.
Ozekhome, who is counsel to the secretary of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Committee in Enugu State during the presidential election, Hon. Rita Mbah, expressed dismay at the handling of the matter by the Enugu Zonal office of the EFCC. There are insinuations that the fund may be part of the $2.1 billion arms procurement money that was diverted during the Jonathan administration.
In a nine-page letter to Magu titled, ‘A Clear Case of Victimisation, Perversion of Justice, illegal and unlawful detention, palpable bias, distorted and compromised investigation: Our Repressed Ms, Mbah’, Ozekhome said it had become necessary for the matter to be transferredfromEnugutoAbujain view of the compromised attitudes displayed by the officers in Enugu.
He asked Magu to immediately constitute an unbiased and uncompromised team to investigate the receipt and disbursement of the fund, with the intent to possibly prosecute former governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, who allegedly disbursed the money, and all others involved.
According to him, “developments since the commencement of the investigation in Enugu had shown that justice will eventually not be served. Mbah had lost confidence in the neutrality and impartiality of the Zonal office, given their palpable compromise and bias as can be gleaned from the chronology of the ugly events detailed in the letter.”
The letter, which detailed how the money was, allegedly, disbursed, said former Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo; chairman of the campaign team, Charles Egungbe; and Prof. Osita Ogbu received N5 million each. It alleged that the then Commissioner of Police in the state, GOC 82 Division, and one DIG of police also got similar amounts.
The Department of State Ser- vices and other security agents got N30 million, while one Dr. Festus Uzor got N38.3 million for distribution to officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the letter stated. It said other party leaders, including, Ikeje Asogwa, Eric Oluedo, Emeka Ujam and one Chime Oji, among others, equally received various sums of money from Chime.
Ozekhome alleged that rather than invite the affected persons, ‘The commission has continued to invite, arrest, detain, harass, intimidate, humiliate and victimise our client on the instructions of some influential persons in Enugu State whom Mbah alleges have heavily compromised the officers in the EFCC, Enugu zone, to look the other way and avert possible prosecution.