BEING A PRESS CONFERENCE HELD IN BENIN CITY, MONDAY, 18TH JUNE, 2018 BY BNC
Our attention has been drawn to an online publication and newspaper reports authored by a self-styled Bishop called Osadolor Ochei, who delights hypocritically in anti-corruption aggrandizement. Anyone conversant with the beggarly predisposition of the self-professed Man of God to issues of good governance which Adams Oshiomhole administration took to its zenith will not attach any seriousness to the disproportionate, preposterous and relevance seeking adventure of filing an action to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to act on a spurious petition he compiled at the instance of his pay masters against Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
His purport for globetrotting as a self-ordained Bishop is to deceive the unsuspecting public and cover his notorious ordeals and lend himself to be used as a cannon fodder and a devious political jobber. One is quick to ask, where he rose to the position of Bishop. These are indeed very troubling times in our country as the most heinous people seek to garb themselves in white cassock all in their vain effort to deceive God fearing Nigerians. We challenge Ochei, to tell us which Church he presides as a Bishop because characters like this cannot be allowed to deceive innocent Nigerians all the time.
Without much ado, we seek to inform that the primary objective of the court action is to discredit Adams Oshiomhole ahead the June 23, National Convention of the APC haven garnered all critical background supports ahead of the convention. In the light of the above, our lawyers have been mandated to explore every means for the BNC to be joined in this case as a foremost sociocultural entity of Edo State. And haven dressed himself in borrowed ropes, he in turn borrowed himself out to the most discredited, whose stock in trade is character assassination and the bastardization of our common matrimony. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is the immediate past Governor of Edo State, a former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the leading candidate for the National Chairmanship of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming June 23, 2018 National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He has an unblemished credentials and fake Bishops and Pastors like we have observed, cannot destroy that name.
It is rather surprising to us that having gone to court to seek the intervention of the court on the said petition, the said Ochei has also chosen not to wait for the court to hear and rule on his suit. He has exhibited impatience with the court and has shown that he does not have confidence in himself to prove his case in court. His is outright ridicule of the temple of justice in Nigeria, and his case should be thrown out out rightly. That is why he has gone online and to Newspapers without the leave of court to publish the very petition he filed with the court. That being the case and coupled with the fact that, according to the publication, the matter is already in court and therefore subjudice, we had chosen to ignore the frivolous, misleading and bogus publication and the false claims made by the said Bishop but have decided to make some basic facts clear.
The publication is riddled with distorted facts, outright lies and was in fact generated to tarnish the towering image of Comrade Oshiomhole by a band of discredited and frustrated politicians from the decaying Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who the people of Edo State rejected in 2007 because of their misrule and mindless looting of the state’s treasury. We are therefore reacting to put the facts clear and to expose the funny characters behind the publication. The truth is that they are afraid that Oshiomhole’s coming as the National Chairman of the APC will completely liquidate PDP in Edo state and Nigeria. If any of these things were true, under President Goodluck Jonathan they would have arrested his commissioners. This is just their last minute battle. We recall that In 2012, the PDP went to take a snap shot of a house owned by Drake an American artist, describing it as Oshiomhole’s country home in Iyamho his village, claiming the building cost N10billion. They tried to deceive innocent citizens but that plot failed. Now the PDP and their agents made so much noise about Oshiomhole’s property in Benin, at Okorotun and that building we are aware reflected in the former Governor’s asset declaration including the source of funding. But we are aware that the governorship candidate of the PDP in the past election, Pastor Ize-Iyamu, who has a house twice the size of Oshiomhole’s house in Ugbor, Benin City, sinking on about four hectares of land complete with a football pitch, and all that he has done in his life is being Personal Assistant to Igbinedion, Chief of staff and later Secretary to Igbinedion’s government. When the fact remains that Oshiomhole even as a former President of the NLC, for eight years and two term governor of Edo state, Comrade Oshiomhole don’t even have a house like that anywhere in the world. And we are aware that these were not reflected in Ize-Iyamu’s asset declaration. Let him come out and face the charges that he is currently facing and not hide under any cover to distract attention from facing the criminal case which is already in court. Not only that they are facing trial for money laundering they have cases pending in other courts. We are aware that the EFCC are yet to investigate his assets as well as several estates himself and his wife own in different parts of the State for which we know that the state government have details about.
As a socio-cultural organization, we are aware that the EFCC visited Edo state, from the days of Farida Waziri as Chairman of EFCC, they were in the state countless times to investigate all the projects being executed by the state government and the cost. At a point they sent Engineers to review the roads and other projects. Even after Waziri, Ibrahim Lamorde became chairman of EFCC, they continued the investigation but to their dismay they could not find anything. Nobody around Oshiomhole including his Commissioners were arrested because their hands were clean. This was during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, a PDP government who made every effort to destroy his hard earned image but failed.
Out of that frustration, the EFCC descended on the current Deputy Governor of Edo state, His Excellency Philip Shaibu because they know he is very close to Oshiomhole. They alleged that he did not graduate from University of Jos and he was detained for four days. But after investigations they found out they were lying. When that one did not work, they also attacked one of his party’s loyalists, saying his place of birth which he stated was wrong. That was when Adams Oshiomhole angry went to EFCC to protest the onslaught against his person and colleagues by the Jonathan administration using the EFCC.
In our humble opinion, characters like the self- professed Bishop and political Pastors of Lucky Igbinedion era cannot judge Comrade Adams Oshiomhole because they lack the requisite moral acumen to do that. We want to remind these wailers that after Comrade Oshiomhole left Office, the revered Benin monarch, Oba of Benin organized a reception in his honour , wherein among other landmarks, Oba Ewuare ll said that he (Oshiomhole) proved to all that it was possible to develop a State without resorting to pilfering adding that Oshiomhole demonstrated his love for the people through his many developmental projects across the state. He ended the career of the PDP god fathers and that is why they have continued to cry and they will cry for a long time. Apart from the Oba of Benin, the Esogban of Benin Kingdom and chairman of the prestigious Benin Forum, Chief David Edebiri described Oshiomhole as God sent to Edo state. This includes a testimonial presented by Prof Emmanuel Emovon, a Benin born Biochemist in honour of Oshiomhole. And it was as a result of Oshiomhole’s prudent management of resources and developmental strides, that the BNC decided to make him our patron for life. So it is not the duty of self-acclaimed Bishops and fake Pastors who are in the habit of deceit to interrogate Oshiomhole’s achievements. Everybody that matters in Edo state have acknowledged his outstanding contributions to the development of our dear state.
Finally, Oshiomhole is not like those who looted Edo State that cannot walk freely today in the streets of Benin. Pastor Ize-Iyamu should come clean to face the charges filed against him by the EFCC. They should not use Oshiomhole’s name to divert attention of the people from the trials most PDP leaders are facing over the looting of over N1billion election fund. Under a PDP government, the EFCC gave Oshiomhole’s administration a clean a clean bill and miscreants and mischievous persons cannot change that fact. We will resist any attempt to tarnish the image of Oshiomhole who has done so much for Edo people and that is why we are saying today that Enough is Enough.
We will keep our eyes on the ball!!!
Signed:
Arc. Oduwa Igbinoghene
Chief Legal and Logistics Officer
Benin National Council (BNC)