A pro-transparency group, Coalition of Public Interest Lawyers & Advocate (COPA), has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to act quickly on a petition of alleged forgery levelled against the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, “in the interest of justice and fair play.”
In a press release in Abuja on Wednesday, the group said the petition against the minister was submitted to the EFCC on February 24, 2019, and a reminder to that effect was submitted on May 19, this year and no action has been taken on it since then.
It stated that the managing director of Mut-Hass Petroleum Limited, Mrs. Bridget Adeosun, had written a petition to the anti-corruption agency, alleging that Ogah forged her signature on a document to validate a non-existent Memorandum of Understanding between his company, Master Energy Oil & Gas and Mut-Hass Petroleum Limited sometime in 2011.
However, acting as solicitors to the pro-transparency, good governance and human rights advocacy group, COPA, through Pelumi Olajengbesi & Co. Law Corridor, demanded that the case against Ogah be revisited and revised for “immediate action.”
In the letter to the EFCC signed by Pelumi Olajengbesi Esq, principal partner, the law firm demanded the following: That the EFCC invites Mr. Ogah and Mrs. Adeosun, the petitioner, for proper probe and prosecution; that the EFCC must shun the implicit duress of Mr. Ogah’s political connection and office and should act in the interest of equity, fairness and justice in this matter forthwith.
It also stated that in keeping with its dissemination of information to the public, the conclusion of the EFCC’s investigation must be made known to the public for the avoidance of suspicion that the matter may be muddled up again.
