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By Vivian Okejeme Abuja
An anti- corruption group, Crusade Against Corruption (CAC), has described as false, claims by the sacked Special Investigator to the Special Presidential Investigation Panel on Recovery of Public Property, Victor Osita Uwajeh.
The group said that the accused was embarking on deliberate falsehood to win public sympathy.
Uwajeh had in a statement on Tuesday, 22 May, 2018, claimed that he lost his job for refusing to investigate some serving senators including the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and some People Democratic Party (PDP) stalwarts.
He also claimed that he was sacked because he refused to be used by the Federal Government to hunt down perceived enemies of the government and investigate former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, ex- Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, former First Lady, Patience Jonathan and ex-Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani- Kayode among others.
Reacting to the claims, CAC, in a statement, signed by its National President, Mr kayode Adewole, said that from available facts before it, Uwajeh was sacked by Special Investigator to the Special Presidential Investigation Panel on Recovery of Public Property for his failure to disclose that there were pending criminal charges against him as at the time it engaged him.
According to the group, investigation revealed that Uwajeh had long been wanted by the court before his appointment as a Special Investigator to the Special Presidential Investigation Panel on Recovery of Public Property was reversed.
Also in the statement, Adewole said that he (Uwajeh) was sacked based on the petition written against him to the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice by Lawyers Against Corruption, (LAC), dated 7th of April, 2018. In the petition, the Group raised several allegations bordering on fraud, theft, forgery and blackmail with relevant documents as annexures against Uwajeh which led to his sack.
The group also accused Uwajeh of trying to blackmail Justice John Tsoho of the federal High Court, Abuja, using Barrister Amobi Nzelu to scuttle the warrant of arrest issued by the court against the embattled former EFCC informant on Monday, 21st May, 2018.
The statement issued by the Lawyers Against Corruption reads: Our findings from the Federal Ministry of Justice revealed that, following public outcry over Victor Uwajeh’s appointment as a Consultant to the Special Presidential Investigation Panel on Recovery of Public Property, the panel carried out a detailed background checks on him with the view to reviewing his appointment.
The office of the AGF had since September 19, 2017 filed four counts against Victor Uwajeh bordering on forgery, documents falsification, fraud and procuring forged documents. The court has since granted the request made by the Federal Government to serve criminal summons on Uwajeh.
Before the proceedings of Monday, 21st May, 2018, Justice John Tsoho had declared Uwajeh, as a fugitive of the law. The judge further berated the Nigeria Police for protecting a fugitive by assigning him a Police Officer to guard his house. This pronouncement was made after the court was informed by the prosecution counsel that Victor Uwajeh was under police protection.
Justice John Tsoho issued an arrest warrant against Uwajeh for his repeated refusal to appear before the court for his arraignment in respect of the four-count criminal charges filed against him by the Attorney-General of the Federation’s office.
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