N250million: Peter Obi's in-law flees to the United Kingdom

As the grips of the Economic and Financial Crimes and Commission [EFCC] begins its stretch to reach the State capital of the Anambra center of government, many of the involved culprits of the money laundering scandal have begun prepping for an eventual and/or inevitable outcome of the investigation. In the face of this, the said Ejike Onwusogbulu, as Ukpakareports.com gathered, has escaped Nigeria to the United Kingdom to avert the prying fangs of the EFCC and other investigating agencies who have developed interest in the money laundering case.

Ejike Onwusogbulu's escape comes on the heels of EFCC's public announcement of an investigation being on the offing. This is in addition to the growing public outcry over the contradictory responses offered by Peter Obi as an explanation over the N250million intercepted by the Lagos police at Peter Obi's Apapa private office. Of which, in the effort to sway the attention of the Nigerian public away from the money laundering scandal, has engaged the Anambra Elders Forum and the Guild of Editors to help shield him from the apparent oncoming of an onslaught of probe as the gubernatorial campaign season draws nearer.

As reported previously, Peter Obi had, on the last day of May 2009, dispatched two of his aides along with two mobile police officers [MOPOL] to deliver N250million to his private office in Apapa, Lagos – where they were nabbed by the Lagos police at hours after mid-day. But the reactions of the Peter Obi team to the failed money heist, which many observers believed to be knee-jerk, appear to expose the not-so-hidden criminality imbedded in the attempted money heist.

Upon the breaking news by Ukpakareports.com, Valentine Obienyem, the media assistant to Peter Obi who was also one of the money mules, released a rushed press statement pinning the ownership of the N250million to a 'contractor' and an in-law to Peter Obi in the person of Ejike Onwusogbulu [who was not present at the time of the arrest]. The media assistant indicated this while saying that the contractor requested for the N250million to be paid in cash before recanting the press statement only twelve [12] hours later. In his revised press statement, the media assistant stated that while the N250million belonged to the contractor, it was not paid in cash - that Ejike Onwusogbulu was paid in numerous checks issued by the State Government for the purchase and delivery of transport vehicles for the new Peter Obi taxi program, ANIDS. The story took another turn as our investigators reported that the Lagos police had video taped the counting of the N250million and had deposited the money into the coffers of the Anambra State Government. This time, the media assistant refined his story to explain away the reason the police deposited the 'contractor's' money into the Anambra State account, particularly since the media assistant asserts no crimes were committed.

As Ukpakareports.com learnt through impeccable sources, Peter Obi's determination to cover up his money laundering escapades and to seal all leaks of information from his office, has upped to discharge his official driver. This is in addition to the pending sacking of the Chief Security Officers and the ADC. Peter Obi is said to be unraveled by the reports of his movements on the day of the reported heist to the point that he believes that his ADC, CSO and /or driver must have leaked information to the media on his movement on that day.

Nonetheless, more information on the said 'contractor' [Ejike Onwusogbulu] has been unearthed by our investigators. Ejike Onwusogbulu, who is the brother to Ndibe Obi's wife [Ndibe Obi is Peter Obi's brother], has lived a life as a drug pusher [Heroin and Cocaine]. He was arrested in United Kingdom in 1991 during one of his many drug runs. Unconfirmed sources add that the drug runs was for Peter Obi but Ukpakareports.com is not certain of Peter Obi's involvement. Be that as it may, other close associates and man-Friday of Peter Obi have been associated with drug trafficking. Dubem Obaze, the commission for Local Government affairs and Chieftaincy matters, Benjamin Uba, special assistant to Peter Obi, and Benjamin Obi, special assistant to Peter Obi, are reported to have lived a life of drug trafficking. And sources that know of Peter Obi's past, state that it was the shared drug trafficking experience that holds Peter Obi to Dubem Obaze and company.

It is through these trusted aides of Peter Obi who have a not-so-stellar past that Peter Obi has leaned on to reach out to the Anambra State House of Assembly to squash the probe into the failed attempt to launder N250million. The Secretary to the State Government in the person of Paul Odenigbo has been recruited into the cover up campaign also to reach the lawmakers. As recalled, the lawmakers had earlier constituted a 3-man panel to look into the money laundering matter. Of which allegations of money having exchanged hands between the lawmakers and Peter Obi's aides are abound – although the imagine maker of the State Assembly have denied the allegation. Nonetheless, to date, since the formation of the panel, nothing has come from it which jives with what one of the concerned lawmaker who did not want his name told our investigators that Peter Obi has successful reached out to the members of the 3-man probe panel and that nothing significant will come from the panel. The source, who is a principal officer of the State Assembly, continued to add that a group of lawmakers [10 in number] believed to be loyal to Peter Obi have threatened to create a parallel House of Assembly if the lawmakers continue their inquiry into the money laundering matter.

In an exercise tantamount to robbing salt of its taste, the Anambra State Association in the United States of America [ASA-USA], following pressures from concerned members, upped to launch an investigation into the money laundering matter. Interestingly, the association, noted for being pocketed by the Peter Obi administration, convened an executive meeting where they set up a 5-man panel to investigate the matter. However while setting the 5-man panel, the President of the association, Nwachukwu Anakwenze cautioned that 'care' must be taken because ever since ASA-USA's press statement on Peter Obi's reluctance to conduct LGA election that Peter Obi has stopped picking up his calls. He made this caution while insisting that the assistant Public Relations Officer, Tony Idigo head the 5-man panel. Tony Idigo was recently awarded a contract at the Amaku General Hospital in Awka by the Peter Obi government. To date, the 5-man panel has yet to seat.

Peter Obi's troubles appear to be on the dawn of its unraveling as more questions regarding the source of the N250million arise. Ukpakareports.com in talking to the Commissioner of Economics and Planning in the person of Chinyere Okunna, gathered that Peter Obi following the arrest and release of Valentine Obienyem and Benjamin Uba, had assembled his cabinet for an emergency meeting to assure and/or convince them of the source of the money. According to the Commissioner, “Peter Obi presented the checks to us, I saw the checks myself. The checks were for the purchase of 4x4 pick up vehicles for each of 21 Local Government offices.” The commissioner indicated that the contract was awarded to Ejike Onwusogbulu's company. Our investigators gathered however that the contract which was awarded in late 2007 resulted in the withdrawal of N4.7million from each of the 21 LGA - equivalent to N98.7miilion. It remains uncertain whether the N98.7million supposedly used to purchase the pickups in late 2007 was part of the N250million – as insinuated by the Honorable Commissioner.

It is believed the escape of Ejike Onwusogbulu to United Kingdom is timed to partly to avoid providing answers to the beehive of contradictions that has cracked a vault of potent questions - with possible criminal overtones. Particularly as it has been gathered that the EFCC has arrived on the grounds in Anambra State and have begun clandestine collection of information, it is feared that Ejike Onwusogbulu would or may pose a weak link to the web of deception currently beiing weaved by the Peter Obi media team.

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