Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate
president, says he does not have any case of assets declaration to answer.
The deputy senate president said
this in response to a suit filed against him
by the special presidential investigation panel for the recovery of
public property (SPIP).
John Tsoho, the judge handling
the case, ordered that Ekweremadu be served through the clerk of the national
assembly and fixed October 22 for hearing.
Twenty-two properties were
reportedly traced to the deputy senate president. Nine in Nigeria, two in the
UK, eight in Dubai and three are in the US.
In a statement on Wednesday, Uche
Anichukwu, media aide to Ekweremadu, quoted the senator as saying that the suit
is “laughable and malicious”.
The senator said he is not
obligated by law to declare his assets to the panel.
“Let me re-affirm to Nigerians
and my supporters that I have no assets declaration case to answer. The
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria requires pubic office holders
to declare their assets every four years, a requirement which I fulfilled,” the
statement read.
“The panel requested and obtained
copies of my Assets Declaration Form from the Code of Conduct Bureau where
everything is stated in black and white. For emphasis, all my assets were fully
and comprehensively declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
“What is at issue here is that
the panel had forwarded fresh assets declaration forms to me to fill contrary
to the position of the 1999 Constitution, a demand I refused to oblige because
it is clearly unconstitutional. It is this refusal to disobey the Constitution
that I am now being charged for.
“I am aware that the chairman of
that panel wrote the same letter to some serving Honourable Judges of the
Federal High Court, who also declined to fill them.
“I am also aware that the
affected judges petitioned the minister of justice and attorney-general of the
federation (AGF), Mallam Abubakar Malami, who immediately withdrew the
provocative letters and fresh asset declaration forms with apologies.
“I am further aware that the
office of the AGF had also intervened in a similar case involving the Obla
Panel at the federal high court, Lagos and I believe all these culminated in
Obono-Obla’s suspension in November 2017 before his recall.
“It is, therefore, left to
Nigerians to see the politics of the so-called charges in my case. The Office
of the AGF should not allow itself to be used in filing malevolent and
unconstitutional charges that destroy our democracy and make mockery of our
judicial system.”
The lawmaker said instead of
coming after him, the federal government ought to prosecute an alleged case of
forgery against Obono-Obla.
“I expect the attorney-general to
channel his energy to prosecuting Obono-Obla Panel over his established case of
forgery of his Senior School Certificate result instead of this politically-motivated
prosecution and smear campaign,” he said.
“My position is that the Public
Property Special Provisions Act, CAP R4 LFN, 2004, otherwise known as Decree No
3, 1984, which Obono-Obla has relied on to charge public officials to court had
become obsolete and power to investigated non-asset declaration vested in the
Code of Conduct Bureau by the 1999 Constitution. Only the Code of Conduct
Bureau can receive asset declaration forms from public officers.
“It is obvious that this is part
of the desperate and panic measures to cripple the opposition ahead of the 2019
general elections. Every opposition candidate and leader should, therefore, be
ready for such smear campaigns and onslaughts, but rest assured, however, that
they would ultimately triumph where their hands are clean.
“I insist that my hands are
clean. Anybody, who knows any undeclared assets of mine, should feel free to
avail the public of such information. Nigerians and the international community
should, therefore, disregard this latest campaign of calumny and witch-hunt.”
TheCable had reported that the
AGF’s, office filed a false declaration of assets charge against Ekweremadu
before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) following the said discovery.
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