Crossfire!! Gbagi, Delta deputy governor exchange verbal swords over soul of Delta

The political battle for the soul of Delta state took a dramatic turn within the last few days following a bitter war of words between the camp of Olorogun Barrister Kenneth Gbagi, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party SDP and the deputy governor of the state, Sir Monday Onyeme.

Gbagi, guber candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the March 18, 2023 governorship poll, is challenging the outcome of the election which produced Sheriff Oborevwori and his deputy, Monday Onyeme of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as governor and deputy governor respectively.

Gbagi, a lawyer, a criminologist and a philanthropist, is unwilling to accept the outcome of the election. He believes that all the contestants, Sheriff Oborevwori of PDP, Ovie Omo-Agege of APC, Great Ogboru of APGA and Ken Pela of Labour Party do not qualify to contest the election. With this, they should all be disqualified. Some may find it difficult to agree but Gbagi may have his facts.

Flowing from the foregoing, there has been a tussle which is getting fiercer as the governorship election petition tribunal is getting close to taking the historic decision on the winner or possible annulment of the election and calling for re-run if the tribunal deems it necessary. At the ongoing tribunal, each party is bent on persuading the three-man-panel to see reasons to take decision in their favour.

Hence, within the week, a revelation broke out which led to aides of both Olorogun Gbagi and Onyeme to exchange words as to win the minds of the public. At the ongoing tribunal, Gbagi reportedly told members of the panel that the state deputy governor, Sir Monday Onyeme, was dismissed from the services of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) following a forgery case where he was allegedly found guilty.

Gbagi revealed that he was then minister of state for education where he set up panel of inquiry that reportedly found Onyeme guilty of forgery. He said he was chairman of the committee which probed Onyeme, the finding of which led to his summary dismissal as bursar of the federal university.

Gbagi, who appeared before the tribunal as sole witness, said: “I was a minister of the federal republic of Nigeria, and the 4th respondent (Onyeme), was my staff. I can tell you that for forgery and records that are being kept, I presided over the panel as minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

“I constituted the panel. The 4th respondent appeared before my panel. Haven found him guilty of forgery, he was dismissed. After he left the National Open University, he came here as a tax collector. Apart from the dismissal, there was an administrative enquiry that enquired into his finances and the dismissal was part of it. We terminated his engagement, the reason for him to have abruptly left the university services”.

In proving the case against Onyeme further, Gbagi alleged in his revelation that, “The 4th respondent failed to disclose the fact of his dismissal in his affidavit form EC9 deposed to on 29th day of July, 2022.

He insisted “That the 4th respondent failed to declare the primary school he attended, neither did he exhibit a certificate to that effect. His failure to exhibit the certificate is because of the challenge that, if exhibited, it will not be favorable to him.”

Gbagi’s argument at the tribunal was revealed by his chief press secretary, Kenneth Orusi, a journalist based in Delta state.

In a swift response to the weighty allegations, a Delta-based journalist, Fidelis Egugbo, who is special assistant to the deputy governor, debunked Gbagi’s allegations, describing them as ‘spurious’ and ‘unfounded’. For him, Gbagi’s allegations do not hold water.

He said, “I am confident that no Deltan will take the spurious, unfounded allegation of Kenneth Gbagi serious, because, we are all aware about his antecedents. It is unfortunate that instead of accepting defeat as expected of a true democrat, he is in the tribunal trying to cause disaffection among the people.

“Without going back memory lane to list places that Sir Onyeme has rendered service to humanity, we are all aware that as at 2015, Gbagi was not the minister of state and it was the year, 2015 that Sir Onyeme, took leave of absence from the NOUN to enable him effectively take charge of the affairs of the Delta State Internal Revenue Service as its executive chairman.

“The immediate past governor of Delta state, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, believed in excellence and his administration was able to woo Sir Onyeme, a tax expert from the NOUN to head the revenue service.

“Gbagi alleged that as a minister of state for education, he set up a panel to investigate Onyeme and also, sat on the panel as its chairman and went further to recommend the dismissal of Onyeme as a Bursar; and failed to institute legal actions against him for forgery. Such a situation can only be imagined as Onyeme took leave of absence years after Gbagi left as minister of state for education.

“Every Nigerian is aware that Sir Onyeme after his appointment, applied for and was granted leave of absence in 2015 when he answered the call to serve Deltans as the chairman, DSIR, a position he again, relinquished voluntarily when he was chosen as the running mate to Rt. Hon. Oborevwori in 2022.”

”As the deputy governor of Delta state, members of the National Open University of Nigeria Alumni Association, Delta state chapter, few days ago, paid a congratulatory visit on Sir Onyeme at his office at government House, Asaba.. That visit clearly attest to how the deputy governor is valued at the NOUN.

“Following his emergence as the running mate to Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori in 2022, it became clear, that his career at the NOUN had ended and as a man who believes in due process, Sir Onyeme who resigned his appointment at DSIR, also, resigned as the Bursar of the NOUN.

“His resignation put to an end, a robust nine years as Bursar of NOUN, a position that he put his expertise to use as he was never queried nor faced any panel whatsoever within the period.”

In a recent meeting with management of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), the deputy governor threw more light on the matter. He said: “Recently, there is information that the deputy governor was dismissed from the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, for forgery. Why some of us refused to comment on the issue is because, it is very laughable. Forgery of what? Why would somebody like me forge? What am I forging? Is it the certificate or is it financial document? What did I forge? And this institutions are still there, functioning, all the principal officers are still there for ease of verification.

“How can a respected Nigerian come out and begin to say things that are not true? Is it because we don’t have solutions for people who go to the public to tell lies under oath? I don’t think our laws are strong enough against some of these things, if not people will not just come out and say things that are not true; such persons ought to be prosecuted.

“In your imagination, you raised allegation against a person, create a panel to try the person, sat as the chairman of the panel – there was no witness; you found the person guilty, got the person dismissed from service; all in your imagination without any other person corroborating what you are saying and you come to the court of law and under oath, you say such things and claim that they are true.”

In further response to Egugbo’s statement, the chief press secretary to Olorogun Gbagi, Orusi Kenneth, released a counter statement, saying Egugbo’s submissions were without facts, insisting that he (Egbugo) published a ‘wishy-washy report’. He said Egugbo failed to carry out extensive research before rushing out. He said lawyers fruitlessly attempted to drown the allegations before the tribunal but they failed.

The statement partly read: “Egugbo’s writeup shows that he didn’t do any fact-check to truly know the antecedents of the largest private investor in the state.

“Egugbo, a journalist who worked under the state owned print media, The Pointer, and was subsequently appointed special assistant, was expected to have carried out a thorough investigation on the unbroken records of Gbagi but hurriedly went to press with wishy-washy report.

“The report with the headline: “Delta guber: Egugbo punctures lies of Gbagi”, is very laughable, as it did not come to us by surprise.

“But what is most amusing is that, Egugbo, who ordinarily is not an authority, could claim to dismiss what lawyers to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Monday Onyeme and Sheriff Oborevwori who are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Respondents, fruitlessly tried to stop but failed woefully.

“Documents and other admissible evidence have been tendered and admitted at the tribunal by the three-man Justices, headed by Justice H.C Ahuchaogu.

“Gbagi, a renowned criminologist, has records of integrity, impeccable character and unbeatable achievements with a midas touch, would not stoop so low to the likes of Onyeme, to cause disaffection and incite Deltans against anybody as the administration of Sheriff Oborevwori, was already built on faulty foundation of multiple forgeries which is before the tribunal.

“It should be noted that at the time Gbagi chaired the panel of inquiry, which dismissed Onyeme, Gbagi had no plans of contesting the governorship election in the state.

“Gbagi had told the tribunal that the election that produced Oborevwori and Onyeme was marred with irregularities, electoral malpractices and non-compliance to the electoral Act 2022 for which he has approached the tribunal for justice, a move that falls within his fundamental rights.

It is again, laughable that a man dismissed from the services of NOUN, for forgery, could be described to have “unblemished record”, it is laughable indeed.

“To put the records straight, within the nine years, 2006 to 2015 that Onyeme worked at NOUN, he was under Gbagi, at the time he was minister of state for education which made it possible for the panel he chaired to investigate and found Onyeme guilty of forgery which led to his dismissal.”