22nd December, 2010
The immediate past Chairman of Peoples Progressive Party, PPP, Engr. Damian Ogbonna was on Wednesday docked before an Abuja Magistrate Court presided over by Mrs. Hafsat Soso for allegedly defrauding his party of a princely sum of 12 million Naira.
The embattled former Chairman whose tenure of office expired on the 3rd of December was alleged to have conspired with the Deputy National Chairman South West of the party, Mr. Olusegun Akinyele and the National Treasurer, Ms. Jenifer Nkiru who are currently at large, to fraudulently withdraw the sum of 12 million Naira from the party’s bank account.
The prosecution team led by Mr. Simon Lough alleged that the accused persons withdrew and shared the money amongst themselves few days before the tenure of the embattled ex-chairman expired on December 3, 2010.
The Police in a First Information Report, FIR, tendered in court, insisted that the actions of the accused persons ran contrary to sections 97, 312 and 322 of the penal code law and that the trial of the ex chairman arose from a joint petition written to the commissioner of Police FCT, by the national secretary of the party, Alhaji Usman Aliyu Griel and eight other aggrieved party members.
Soon after the presiding Magistrate adjourned the trial to 27th January 2011, operatives of the Criminal Investigative Department, CID, Abuja, re-arrested the embattled ex-chairman for allegedly defrauding the Yobe state government to the tune of N15m.
An independent investigation by P M News revealed that the embattled former party boss used a bogus company to obtain contracts for the supply of hospital equipments from the Yobe state Government. He was alleged to have abandoned the contract upon the receipt of 15 million Naira mobilization fee from the Yobe state Government
The security operatives forcefully bundled him into a waiting taxi and sped off to the Force CID in the Garki District of the Abuja metropolis.
By Nnamdi Felix / Abuja