A media outfit of the All Progressives Congress, the APC NewsOnline has said two of the leading aspirants for the position of Senate President have allegedly failed an Integrity Test conducted on them by the media organization.
The APC NewsOnline in a statement issued and released to the media in Abuja Friday revealed that the duo of Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Orji Uzor Kalu allegedly did not pass its integrity test.
According to the statement personally signed by the publisher of the multimedia outfit, Dr. Tom Ohikere the two senators “are unsuitable” for the esteemed position of senate president.
Ohikere, a former two term commissioner of Information and Culture in Kogi State disclosed that the APC NewsOnline conducted the Integrity Test on only the aspirants from the South where it said, the media organization believed the Senate President should come from.
APC NewsOnline, which Dr. Ohikere said was officially registered by the party and has been at the forefront of promoting the political activities and achievements of the party, consequently conducted the integrity test on the trio of Senator Godwilll Akpabio, Senator Orju Uzor Kalu, and Senator Osita Izunaso out of whom the online platform passed Senator Izunaso.
For the former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the APC media revealed: “Akpabio has not escaped the rigorous radar of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), he was arrested and investigations have been ongoing on the alleged theft of N108.1 billion of Akwa Ibom State funds.”
“In March this year, Akpabio was invited by the EFCC over allegations of N40 billion fraud perpetrated in the NDDC, a ministry that was headed by Akpabio for three years. The EFCC had invited Akpabio to come to its office on March 29, 2023, but his lawyer, Umeh Kalu SAN, in a letter to the anti-graft agency claimed that his client, Akpabio was suffering from pneumonia and cardiac arrhythmia.
Following his failure to honor its request, the EFCC wrote another letter inviting Senator Akpabio for interrogation on May 9, 2023, alleged over cases of money laundering and sleaze running to billions of Naira, and the invitation, Akpabio ignored.
“Similarly, in 2021, the senator-elect was detained after he allegedly attempted to bribe the Chairman of the anti-graft agency, Abdulrasheed Bawa with $350,000 (about N135 million). According to sources, Akpabio was trying to bribe the EFCC Chairman because of the tons of corruption allegations against him, dating back to the time he was governor of Akwa Ibom State. “
“Just last week, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC was widely reported to have opened a can of worms on the humongous financial malfeasances being investigated by the commission about Senator Akpabio to the new President who was said to have been shell shocked with the revelations.
The present Senate of the 9th National Assembly is currently probing the same aspirant for the position of senate president, Senator Godswill Akppabio for expending about 2 Trillion Naira budget of the NDDC for two years, 2020 and 2021 without being appropriated by the National Assembly,
As for the former Governor of Abia State, the newspaper said Orji Uzor Kalu who was the chief whip of the 9th Senate also came with his baggage, as he was released from jail in 2020 by a federal high court in Lagos, months after a federal high court on December 5, 2019, jailed him for 12 years.
“Orji was convicted of N7.1bn fraud alongside his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited, and a former Director of Finance at the Abia State Government House, Jones Udeogu, in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/56/2007 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria vs. Orji Uzor Kalu & 2 Ors on December 5,
Out of the three contenders from the southern part of Nigeria, Ohikere said only Senator Osita Izunaso passed the APC Integrity Test.
“But one man that seems to be a shining alternative, if not the only alternative is Senator Osita Izunaso, who like both men is also a Christian and from the South East, a region fiercely agitating for inclusion in the government after a perceived long stretch of marginalization. Senator Izunaso like the above has the requisite experience and political dexterity, and unlike the above duo comes with a clean record, without any fraud or criminal case attached to his name.
“Brilliant, deep, pragmatic, intellectually inclined, and a loyal party man, his political trajectory shows him as a man able to build consensus and play a politics that is people-oriented, a fresh face that will no doubt be a great sell for the renewed hope agenda.”
“The complimentary media organization to the All Progressives Congress, therefore advised the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the leadership of APC to do only things that would promote the image of the party and avoid actions capable of damaging its reputation before Nigerians and the world generally.
Dr Tom Ohikere is the Managing Director, of APC NewsOnline
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