Leo Stan Ekeh’s Triumph
Nigeria’s number one computer guru, Leo Stan Ekeh, is a shrewd businessman.
Since the Zinox Computers boss started out as a businessman, he has always turned away from anything that can drag his name into disrepute.
His family knows he detests negative publicity. His friends acknowledge his genttlemanliness gentlemanly. So also his business associates love him for being savry and suceed.
Perhaps, this explains the shock expressed by his ardent admirers since news broke of how one Joseph Benjamin, also a businessman, has been trying in vain to smear his reputation.
Benjamin has allegedly launched a campaign of calumny and blackmail against Ekeh, while also threatening his life.
But strangely, Benjamin has never met with the Ekeh.
A source revealed to Society Watch that the duo of Princess Kama and Chief Igbokwe, who are appointed staff and representatives of Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, a company belonging to Benjamin, secured a contract for the supply of HP laptops to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Having no funds to execute the contract, both Kama and Igbokwe were said to have approached Technology Distributions (an authorized HP distributor and the biggest ICT distributor in Sub-Saharan Africa), a sister company to Zinox, to supply to them the laptops on credit pending payment by FIRS.
The source said: “In view of the company’s previous bad experience and in order to avoid exposing the business to bad loans, it is the normal business practice that if a client is taking products on credit for onward contractual supply to a customer, staff of Technology Distributions would have to be signatories to an account opened for the purpose of disbursement of funds as regards the contract.
“This is the only security for the laptops supplied on credit. So, Technology Distributions appointed its staff, Mr. Chris Eze Ozims and Mrs. Shade Oyebode, as signatories to the account.
“But nowhere did they represent that they were directors of Citadel Oracle Concept Ltd. If Mr. Joseph has evidence to the contrary, let him produce it.”
It was further gathered that immediately the contract was executed and the payment effected by the FIRS, Technology Distributions simply deducted the pre-agreed invoice sum of the laptops and had its staff resigned as signatories to the said account.
This, it was also learnt, was the same procedure applied to other customers who had similar contracts with FIRS for the supply of similar HP laptops at same time.
However, problems began when Benjamin could not agree on the profitsharing formula with his appointed representative, Princess Kama; hence, he reported the case to the SFU for investigation.
Benjamin was also said to have reported the case to the EFCC, the Special Fraud Unit of the Police in Lagos and the Force Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters in Abuja.
There was, however, a twist to the matter, following the denial by Benjamin that he did not sign the board’s resolution to the account with which the FIRS remitted payment for the supplied HP laptops.
Against backdrop, the police sent the documents for forensic analysis to determine its veracity.
But the result showed that the documents were actually signed by him.
It turned out to be a civil case between Benjamin and his representatives, Princess Kama and Chief Onny Igbokwe, who obtained the HP products from Technology Distributions on credit.
Faced with this reality, Benjamin was said to have petitioned the police that his signature was forged to execute the contract.
However, it was later discovered that the said documents were not forged and that the computers were delivered to FIRS.
Consequently, the police then dragged Benjamin to court in charge Number CR/216/16 before the FCT High Court, Abuja, after forensic evidence showed that the Board Resolution bearing his signature, which he claimed to have been forged, was actually his.