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 circulated on 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