A few days ago, it was reported that a man named Jerry Ogbonna Obike Phillip, withdrew the sum of N45 million said to have been transferred to his account in error.
And now, he is speaking out, stating that the allegations are false.
Jerry took to his Facebook page to set the record straight:
On
the Withdrawal of Money Purported to Have Been Wrongly Credited to My
Account by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and My Allegedly Being
Wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
My
attention has been drawn to the falsehood being circulatedon some
social and print media platforms with my above photograph claiming that I
am wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for
withdrawing N45 million purported to have been wrongly credited to my
account by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
For
the avoidance of doubt,let me state categorically that the deposit was
not made in error. The said amount was credited to my account with
Diamond Bank Plc in 2012 for a contract I have with the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources for the lease of three (3) helicopters from Tunisia
for the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). The helicopters were
former President Umaru Musa Yar’Aduas idea to prevent the DPR from
hiring helicopters from the International Oil Companies (IOCs)they were
supposed to police.
The N45 million
was part payment of the mobilisation for the contract. The full
mobilization is N110 million, and a total of N90 million has been paid
by the ministry as mobilisation. However,some staff ofthe CBN and the
Ministry of Petroleum Resources wanted me to launder the money and share
it with them without supplying the helicopters for the stipulated
service but I refused, insisting that it was against my principles. Our
nation will continue to crawl behind other nations of the world if we
all continue to acquiesce to such corrupt propositions and compromise
the integrity of such or any contracts.
I
am ready to fight whoever is behind these false publications because I
have God behind me and no one can defeat me in such a just cause no
matter how highly placed.
The money
was used to take the officers of the DPR and the Ministry of Petroleum
Resources on an inspection visit to Tunisia. Officials of the Civil
Aviation authorities also travelled for the inspection of the
helicopters with officers of Aero Contractors who were to operate the
helicopters.
Also, officials and crew
of the Tunisian company, Tunisiavia, visited Nigeria to inspect the
facilities here in Nigeria where the helicopters will operate.
The
N45 million was used to finance all these inspections and the expenses
were foreign exchange dominated. At the end of the successful
inspection, I was paid N45 million and a letter to the effect that we
successfully completed the first phase of the contract was sent to
Fidelity Bank Plc.
In another
development, I reported some staff of DPR for asking me for bribe with
evidence and EFCC and ICPC took no action. At the end of these
inspections, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources was supposed to pay
N370 million for the helicopters to be ferried to Nigeria in accordance
with the terms of the contract. At this stage they refused to make the
payment, hence the current stalemate.
Since
this matter is in the Federal High court and International court of
arbitration for adjudication, I prefer not to give further details at
present beyond what is necessary in response to the current effort to
slander me with such false publications.
I
am not on the run from the EFCC because they know my office in Abuja
and my residence. I have no need to run from anybody but no one can
intimidate me. The rule of law must be followed at all times. The truth
must prevail over lies. I sacrificed my life for 30 years in the
military for this nation and cannot at this stage change my habits at
61.
Jerry Ogbonna
No comments:
Post a Comment