Lawflex, a Lagos-based law firm, has asked the Code of
Conduct Bureau (CCB) to prosecute Peter Obi, Labour Party (LP) presidential
candidate, over his alleged failure to declare secret assets stashed in tax
havens while he was Anambra state governor.
In a petition dated March 23 and received by the CCB on the
same day, Olukoya Ogungbeje, the signee, urged the bureau to commence an
immediate investigation against Obi and invite him for questioning.
The law firm threatened to seek a “judicial review by way of
an Order of Mandamus in a court of competent jurisdiction in a bid to compel
performance of public duty” if the CCB fails to take constitutional action
within 30 days.
BACKSTORY
Leaked files, which were retrieved from 14 offshore service
firms around the world and revealed in a Pandora Papers project led by the
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and which Premium
Times was a part, had shown how the former governor failed to declare assets
kept in tax havens.
In 2010, more than three years after Obi became governor, he
reportedly set up his first discreet company in the British Virgin Islands and
named the company Gabriella Investments Limited — after his daughter.
The former governor reportedly first approached Acces
International, a secrecy enabler in Monaco, France, to help him incorporate an
offshore entity.
He was also said to have been a director of Next
International (UK) Limited for 14 months after becoming the governor of Anambra
state.
Meanwhile, section 6
of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal act stipulates that public office
holders cannot engage in or direct a private business, except if it is farming.
But Obi was said to have resigned from the company on May
16, 2008, which was 14 months after he assumed office as Anambra governor.
Reacting, Obi said the report did not reflect international
investment practices.
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