Goli Insists Sylva/Wabote Must Be Probed

 

Israel Sunny- Goli,  former  House Representatives member  has dismissed allegations  that he was planning to stage  a protest to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking to compel it to commence probe into the multi-million-naira investments alledgedlly made by the Nigerian Content development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) under Engr Simbi Kesiye Wabote.

Recall that a group, Niger Delta Justice Forum (NDJF) had few days ago  stated that  it  had uncovered a plot being alledgedlly bankrolled by the Minister of State for Petroleum,(Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri  using Sunny-Goli to rent a crowd to protest in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Yenagoa respectfully against Wabote and former Minister of State (Petroleum), Chief Timipre Sylva  in  a bid to stampede the EFCC to commence investigations into the allegations of misappropriation of funds by the NCDMB.   

  

But  Sunny- Goli who represented Nembe/ Brass Federal constituency in the 9th National Assembly, in a statement  on Tuesday  denied the allegation  and accused NDJF of being bankrolled to publish falsehood in the attempt to divert the attention of the public from the petition which bordered on the misappropriation of public funds by the Simbi Wabote-led NCDMB.  

 While dismissing allegations of being used  by Lokpobiri, he maintained  that his decision to submit a petition to the EFCC was borne out of personal conviction that public funds must be accounted for.

He challenged sponsors of the faceless group to disprove all that were contained his petition to the EFCC and show proof of the completion of the Atlantic International Refinery & Petrochemical Ltd, the Brass Fertilizer & Petrochemical Company Ltd and the Brass Petroleum Product Terminal Limited or any proof of appreciable milestone made in the projects under consideration after the huge sums purportedly invested in them

Sunny- Goli insisted that the EFCC is a professional government agency that cannot be used to witch-hunt anybody and  does not need anyone to railroad it to do its duties.

The statement reads in part ‘’I wish to state emphatically that I am not a coward who hides under fictitious characters to throw darts, which explains why I personally went down to the EFCC office in Abuja to submit a petition I wrote on my letterheaded paper  and signed. 

"I take full ownership of the petition I submitted in person to the EFCC calling on them to investigate and bring to book anyone found culpable in the event of any financial misappropriation in some of the disbursements made by the Simbi Wabote led NCDMB, particularly with respect to the $35 million invested in the Atlantic Refinery and another $20 million disbursed for the Brass Fertilizer & Petrochemical Company Limited.

"I also stand by the claims contained therein in my petition and maintain that nothing tangible has been achieved in any of those projects despite the huge sums claimed to have been fully paid for them.

“While I will not stoop low to the level of name dropping, I wish to state unequivocally that I will not be cowed into backing out of my pursuit of standing up for my people, who would have  been the primary beneficiaries of these projects sited in our communities. 

"Every penny claimed to have been invested in those projects must be accounted for and if there are any established cases of financial misappropriation, everyone involved shall be made to face the full wrath of the law.The statement concluded.