The impeachment of the Imo State Deputy Governor, Jude Agbaso might have inadvertently opened a Pandora’s Box amid emerging evidence that the charges against Agbaso were politically motivated and that the Imo State House of Assembly merely acted a script handed to them by Governor Rochas Okorocha, who now faces calls for impeachment by rights and activists groups.
Agbaso was accused of demanding and receiving a bribe of N458 million from Mr. Joseph Dina, CEO/MD of a company, JPROS International Ltd., which was awarded a construction contract by the Imo State Government. However, as Agbaso was being impeached in Owerri, the Imo State capital, new facts emerged showing that forensic auditors employed by the Agbaso family have traced the missing N458 million to accounts of the contractor, JPROS, in the United Arab Emirate, Dubai and Lebanon.
It was further gathered that one of Okorocha’s special advisers and Chairman, Committee on Monitoring and Implementation of Road Projects, Mr. MacDonald Akano, was on the board of the company and also its second largest shareholder. A search at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), however, showed that Akano was put on the board of the company at about the same time the execution and mobilization for the contract in question took place, suggesting a conflict of interest.
The report of the forensic auditors had been forwarded to the appropriate quarters, including the police and the Department of State Security (DSS). The latest development has triggered calls for Okorocha’s impeachment by the Save Imo Group (SIG), whose coordinator, Nze Ebubeagu Ekenulo and rights activist, Chief Lambert Adibe, have written a letter to Imo lawmakers urging them to commence impeachment proceedings against Okorocha on 13 counts. They urged the Assembly members to apply the same speed to their impeachment letter against Okorocha as they did with Agbaso.
Agbaso was impeached and removed from office on Thursday by the state House of Assembly shortly after an Owerri High Court earlier in the day struck out his suit seeking to stop the impeachment process. Twenty-three of the 27-member Assembly endorsed the impeachment, which took place amid tight security in the evening. The impeachment came amid protests over the authenticity of the process, as the panel, instituted by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Benjamin Njemanze, to look into the matter, only sat for a few hours before the House swung into action.
Notwithstanding, and without batting an eyelid minutes after the impeachment, Governor Okorocha submitted the name of the Chief of Staff, Government House, Mr. Eze Madumere, as the deputy governor-nominee. He was cleared by the state assembly and would be sworn in today, Saturday.
According to the findings presented by the older brother to the former deputy governor, Mr. Martin Agbaso, who addressed the press at his office in Victoria Island, Lagos; “Mr. Dina first paid the sum of N325 million into the Three Brother’s Concept Ltd GTB Account. “The money was used to raise the sum of US$1,930,00 (one million, nine hundred and thirty thousand dollars), which was subsequently transferred through Dubai on February 21, 2012 to Mr. Joseph Dina’s account no: LB550014000023023 00179018010 with the Kaslik Branch of Blom Bank Sal in Lebanon. The purpose of the transfer as stated in the transfer document was ‘to import construction equipment’.
“The second tranche of N133,000,000 (one hundred and thirty-three million naira) was similarly paid into the IHSAN BDG Ltd’s account no: 1015334698 with UBA by Mr. Dina. Again, the money was used to raise US$800,000 (eight hundred thousand dollars) and transferred to Mr. Dina’s Account no: AE60200000036374395130 with HSBC Middle East Ltd at Dubai Internet City, Sheik Zayed Rd, Dubai.
“So while Mr. Dina was accusing the (former) Deputy Governor of Imo State, Mr. Jude Agbaso, of demanding and receiving a bribe of N458 million, the said money had been converted by Mr. Dina himself and his associates and paid into Mr. Dina’s foreign accounts in Lebanon and Dubai.”
The senior Agbaso, who said the family, took the initiative to employ forensic experts in the case because of the need to clear its name from the deliberate attempt to tarnish it, said apart from establishing the beneficiary of the bribery, it was also imperative to identify the owners of the companies.
“The Three Brother’s Concept Ltd runs a Bureau De Change and its directors are Abdulahi Lawal, Ahmadu Yanusa, Karimu Usman, Umar Abubakar and Yakubu Abdulahi. Its current shareholders are Abdulahi Lawal, Umar Abubakar and Yakubu Abdulahi. Jude Agbaso is not one of them. “The directors of Ishan Bureau De Change are Alhaji Inuwa Sabo, Abdulahi Tasiu Maikano, Haruna Saidu and Mallam Sule. The five gentlemen are also the shareholders. Again, Jude Agbaso, the (former) deputy governor of Imo State is not one of them.
“The directors who are also the only shareholders of JPROS Nigeria Ltd, the company whose MD is falsely accusing the (former) deputy governor of bribery are Joseph Dina, Aline Dina, Jean Samir Aoun and Mr. MacDonald Akano, the Special Adviser to Governor Rochas Okorocha and the Chairman of the Committee on Monitoring and Implementation of Road Projects in Imo State.
“Isn’t it fascinating to discover that a director and major shareholder; indeed, the second highest shareholder in the company involved in this ugly defamation of character and wicked attempt to destroy the good name and image of the (former) deputy governor, is a member of Governor Okorocha’s inner circle.
“Isn’t it even more fascinating that to know that Akano stood quietly and loyally beside Mr. Dina as he blackmailed and slandered the (former) deputy governor before the members of the state House of Assembly, knowing well that his company, JPROS, was the guilty party in the matter,” he explained.
Agbaso, who presented copies of his younger brother’s call log obtained from MTN, said no contact was established between his brother and the contractor during the period in question and reiterated that the former deputy governor’s travail was a deliberate attempt to emasculate him politically by first rubbishing the family name.
“Governor Okorocha has the power as the governor of Imo State to do whatever he likes and as he deems fit. But he does not have the power to tarnish the image of my family and what is uppermost now is to clear my family name,” he said, vowing to fight Okorocha to finish.
