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Prominent politician and businessman in Imo State, Mr. Martin Agbaso, Wednesday described the state Governor Rochas Okorocha as “one chance” who relished in deception to get to power. Agbaso who spoke in Lagos at a press conference on the clearance granted his younger brother, Jude, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the wake of his impeachment as deputy governor of the state over alleged bribery, said the clearance was at the instance of Jude, who had written to the EFCC in a letter dated March 21, requesting for an investigation into the matter.
It was against the backdrop of his letter, his elder brother said, that the EFCC investigated the allegation for eight months and came to the conclusion that Jude had no hands in the alleged bribery and promised to take appropriate legal action.
Agbaso said he had nursed a different impression about Okorocha as a supposed philanthropist and was inclined to working with him only to discover afterwards that he was a “one chance” who rode on his back to become governor.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) stalwart who is also a governorship hopeful in the state, claimed that Okorocha had targeted him for attacks and decimation because of the understanding they had that he would serve for just a term and hand over the baton to him, adding that the impeachment of Jude was just a way to get at him by first destroying the family name on the grounds of corruption.
But with EFCC’s clearance of the former deputy governor, Agbaso,
on behalf of the family thought “we deserve an unreserved apology from Governor Okorocha,” even as he commended the EFCC for a job well done.
Agbaso expressed confidence in the fact that “Jude could not have been involved in any shady deals because of our family antecedent,” adding that “the family that always stands for the truth waited with assurance that our son would be given a clean slate.”
The older Agbaso told journalists that all efforts would be geared towards making sure that justice was obtained by way of giving back Jude’s mandate as the duly elected deputy governor of Imo State.
Agbaso, while serving as Deputy Governor and Commissioner for Works, was alleged to have been bribed by a construction company, JIPROS International Nigeria Limited to the tune of N485 million from a contract sum of N1.3billion.
But he denied the allegation and called in the EFCC to investigate the allegation.
In a letter dated November 27, 2013 and signed by the Commission’s Director of Operation, Mr. Olaolu Adegbite, the EFCC cleared him of any wrongdoing.
The EFCC letter stated in part: “The total sum of $5,538,830.00 was found to have been remitted to the personal accounts of Dina in Dubai and Lebanon. There is no single evidence so far that suggested that you benefitted from the funds.
“In his statement to the commission on 28th March, 2013, Dina revealed that he never gave any money to you or any other official of the state government over the contracts, which are yet to be fully executed as at the last visit of our officers in April 2013. The commission’s legal department is working on the case file with a view to taking appropriate legal action, please.”
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