Ahead of the 2023 general elections, a House of Representatives hopeful on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Matthias Efe Olowu wants the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to help unravel the whereabouts of a N1.5m bank draft issued in favour of APGA for the purchase of an expression of interest and nomination forms to the Ughelli/Udu federal constituency of Delta state.
This is as Olowu said despite the presentation of the bank draft, no form was given to him only for the party to name another aspirant as winner of the primary election.
In a petition addressed to the anti-graft commission titled, “Corruption, Criminal Breach of Trust and Conversion of N1.5m Bank Draft by Mr. John Enakireru,” the petitioner said, “I bought the form for the House of Reps, paid to the party. The purpose of this bank draft is for my nomination and expression of interest forms. As I speak with you, I have not seen any form, meaning that even my participation in the primaries was illegal. I went to the Delta Central chairman, John Enakereru who I handed over my draft to and he told me that the draft was with Great Ogboru.
“John Enakereru who is the Delta Central chairman of the party (APGA) asked me to raise a bank draft of N1.5m for the purpose of my nomination and expression of interest form. I did raise the bank draft and gave it to Mr. John but he never gave me any form till this moment. When I approached him about the nomination and expression of interest forms I raised the draft for, he told me that he gave the draft to Mr. Ovedje Ogboru who promised to go to Abuja to purchase all the forms for Delta state.
“When I inquired from Mr. Ovedje Ogboru, he told me the bank draft was with the APGA Delta state chairman.
“On the 30th of May, 2022, I called on the state chairman of the party, Mr. Ememokwu Efamefune to find out about the bank draft, and he said he did not receive any bank draft purchased with my name and that I should hold John Enekereru and Great Ogboru responsible for the missing bank draft,” the petition read in part.
Accordingly, Olowu prayed the EFCC chairman to use his good office to “investigate the whereabouts of the bank draft by calling Mr. John Enekereru and Mr. Great Ovedje Ogboru for questioning with a view to find out my missing bank draft and why the form I paid form I paid for was not given to me.”
Olowu further accused Ogboru of threatening him shortly after submitting a petition to the EFCC saying, “I felt it is fraud and we all know that there is an institution in charge of fraud and EFCC comes within this context, hence, I did a petition to EFCC.
“I was barely out of the EFCC gate when he called me, and he asked if I know him and I said yes, ‘you are Great Ogboru Ovedje’ and he said yes, that I did a petition against him and I said ‘yes sir’ and he asked why I did. I said I paid for a nomination form, ‘you did not give me the nomination form, so I am aggrieved, it is fraudulent, so that is why I have come to EFCC.
“I told him that my petition was based on the fact that I paid for a form that I was not given, and he said ‘but you participated in the primaries.
“He then said he would crumble me, crumble my generation,” he added.
Meanwhile Ogboru has distanced himself from the ordeal of Olowu, saying he had nothing to do with his aspiration to the green chambers.
In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, Ogboru said, “What is my business with that man? He is a liar and blackmailer.”
Although John Enekereru neither picked his calls nor responded to the messages sent to him via WhatsApp despite reading them, Barrister Tex Okechukwu, national publicity secretary of APGA has urged Olowu to approach the the party’s National Working Committee with his request.
“He should go and complain to the national chairman of the party,” Okechukwu counselled the petitioner.
Credit : THE VANGUARD.
