This was as Senator Onwe alleged that Igbokwe opted to drag him and the company in the mud when his attempt to allegedly syphon and steal the mobilisation fund meant for the execution of the contract, blew up and was foiled.
It was gathered that Igbokwe, had through his lawyers, Kanu Ogbonnia and Co, allegedly petitioned the Presidential Amnesty Programme; the Federal Ministry of Justice, among others, claiming that the senator and the company were involved in an illegal N500 million deal.
According to the alleged petition, dated June 10, 2022, a copy of which was sighted by The PUNCH, Igbokwe claimed he was the founding father of the Presidential Amnesty Training contract programme.
But during an interaction with journalists in Abakaliki, on Thursday, Onwe, who is the Director of the Agric Division of Express Concerns International Ltd, alleged that Igbokwe became aggrieved because he scuttled his criminal efforts to steal the 30 per cent mobilisation fund, for a project meant to train Niger Delta youths.
According to him, Igbokwe’s intention was to poison him to avert traces of the attempted criminal diversion of the fund.
He said, “The information being peddled by Chief Onny Igbokwe is absolutely false. This is nothing but pure criminal blackmail for that matter arising from the greed of this criminal, called Igbokwe and his criminal co-travellers.
“What actually happened is he used to be my friend and we both were directed to an opportunity for a training contract with the Presidential Amnesty Programme. We put in bids around June last year, that’s 2021 and my bid succeeded and his didn’t. I was invited to make presentation to the Presidential Amnesty Programme team, in Abuja.
“An award of contract was made to Express Concerns Intentional Ltd on November 24, 2021.
“This petition he (Igbokwe) is peddling arose from the fact that he demanded N84 million from me, which of course, there was no way I was going to give him N84 million from a contract that would not yield a profit of that amount.
“By the way, this contract is to train young people from the Niger Delta in rice farming, fish farming and poultry.”
Onwe, who is the All Progressives Grand Alliance senatorial candidate for Ebonyi Central, added, “Part of the claims by Igbokwe is that I have never been a farmer in my life, I had no farm and I had nothing to train these people, which is for me, a desperate and laughable allegation. This is because for the last nine years or so, I have been the single largest rice producer in Ebonyi State. The facts are verifiable.
“He (Igbokwe) was the one who brought these so called bankers from the First City Monument Bank, the Port Harcourt Crescent Branch of the FCMB, to Abuja. We simply signed the relevant sections and they took the forms back and we supplied our passports photographs and Identity cards.
“Unknown to us, what Igbokwe did was to strike out the sections that Mr Okeke’s details were to be put in. He struck out those sections and inserted his own details and made himself sole signatory to the account. The intention was to steal the money and probably kill me.
“In fact, the police is investigating aspects that probably would ultimately unravel that aspect of the matter.
“This is not the first time people are coming after my integrity. But as I always say, my integrity is too solid to be taken down. This is a very politically-charged season. Therefore, my suspicion is very high that a number of political opponents from various categories of contest in Ebonyi State are behind this, as they had been behind previous attempts to tarnish my image and character.
“This is because they know that this is the most powerful currency I have. The people that are doing this do not possess the character, the integrity and honour that people like us possess. So, they have been looking at ways of knocking this down.
“Lately, there has been a damaging WhatsApp or online concocted of scam against me of N500 million (that’s half a billion). These are all false and attempts to bring my hard-earned reputation down. And the fact that they categorically said, “Senator Emmanuel Onwe, the APGA senatorial candidate, Ebonyi Central”, tells a lot of what they planned to achieve (defamation).
“This clearly tells you that these people are calculating this to be a hit job on my character, a hit job on my integrity, a hit job on what I stand for in Ebonyi State. But it’s not going to stand.
“We have made reports to security agencies and they are looking into this matter and very soon those behind this will be unraveled, because this is a racket. As a matter of fact, parts of this racket are people that were involved in the illegal and criminal raiding of the home of the former Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Mary Odili. But we will leave that for the security agencies to handle and we believe this will happen sooner than later.
“We are taking deliberate, systematic and strategic step to follow it. We are not going to rush to any actions, but this is so damaging and so serious. Trying to extort me personally of N84 million without genuine and legal grounds.
“They know me. My integrity is as solid as the rock and nothing they do will affect that. And in the fullness of time, by the time we bring these criminal blackmailers to book, we will be justified. Therefore, I’m inviting the EFCC, the FIB, the DSS and others to come and investigate this matter.”
