Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
A former Governor of Abia State, and the immediate-past Senator that represented Abia Central, Senator Theodore Orji, has dissociated himself from a trending report that a federal High Court in Abuja, had ordered interim forfeiture of N228.4m traced to him.
Senator Orji who dismissed the said report emanating from the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, as misleading, urged members of the public to discountenance it.
Orji who said his attention was drawn to the “embarrassing report fraught with error of facts” added that no anti graft agency instituted any suit against him in any court of law contrary to the misleading publication.
The former Governor who spoke through his Aide, Hon. Ifeanyi Umere, further explained that the persons said to have been arrested in connection with the matter were never his appointees.
According to him, Erondu Uchenna Erondu, mentioned in the said report as his Special Adviser on Special Duties was never his appointee.
The former Governor also denied having any business transactions with Effdee Nigeria Ltd nor using the said company as conduit pipe to syphon public funds as reported in the said report.
He expressed shock that a reputable news agency like NAN , could publish “such a damaging story without verifying its facts.”
The former Governor demanded immediate retraction of the report as well as apology from NAN, saying the report has caused him huge embarrassment.
Orji said he had instructed his lawyers to take necessary actions.
He said: “Our attention has been drawn to a media media report, claiming that a federal high court in Abuja has made an order of interim freezing and forfeiture of the sum of over 228.4m linked to Senator TA Orji to the Federal Government on allegations of money laundering.
“This is to notify the general public that the said report is false and misleading as there is no pending case in any court involving senator TA Orji and honourable Erondu Uchenna Erondu, a former Special adviser to ex Governor Okezie Ikpeazu with EFCC as contained in the news report.”
He further said: “A thorough scrutiny of the whole story which emanated from News Agency of Nigeria, revealed that the reporter of NAN, in the bid to break the supposed story, ended up publishing a fake news, as he referred to Erondu as the Special Adviser to Senator TA Orji.
“The reporter who did not cross-check his story ought to know that the story in question between Erondu, Austin Akuma of keystone bank, Effdee Nigeria limited and EFCC happened between 2016 and 2017 few years after Senator TA Orji had left office as the Governor of Abia State.
“Once again, the said report about a purported court order allegedly freezing the sum of N228.4 million has nothing to do with former Governor Theodore Orji.
“This was a pure case of error of fact by the reporter or his medium. Senator Orji has no such suit pending before any court. Besides, other characters being mentioned in the case were never Orji’s aides, and never had any dealings with him.
“Media organisations should try to get their facts correct to avoid misleading their audience. The general public should disregard the misleading publication.”
The former Governor, however, said he was prepared to give account of his stewardship as former Governor “any time any day when called upon.”
