Leadership (Abuja)
14 May 2008
Abuja — Labour Party has described the report credited to Chief Kenny Martins, the embattled co-ordinator and proprietor of the Police Equipment Foundation (PEF), that the inspector general of police, Sir Mike Okiro, advised him to bribe Barrister Festus Keyamo, a legal practitioner, and Godson Ewulum, one of the original brains behind the Police Equipment Fund, with a whopping N10 million each and two SUV Jeeps as spurious.
The party said it is appalled at this allegation, and indeed, disgusted that Chief Kenny Martins even accepted that he duly complied with the alleged advice to commit the criminal offence of bribery.
In a press statement signed yesterday national chairman of the party, Barr Dan Nwanyanwu, said the brazen admission of Chief Martins and carroboration by his lawyers of committing such alleged criminal offence at this time of our fight against corruption is a clear testimony of the decay that has eaten deep at the top echelon of societal leadership in Nigeria.
It reads "The Labour Party sees the antics of Chief Kenny Martins andhis co-horts as the plot of a drowning man to go down wtih somebody as credible and as highly placed as the IG of Police of Nigeria believing that such act of blackmail will afford him a window of opportunity for an underserved escape. Sir Okoro has gone through the mills to arrive at the pinnacle of his profession to fall cheaply to the machinations of the likes of Chief Kenny Martins who appropriated a presidential agency to raise funds for the equipment and well being of the police to a non governmental organisation with controversial registration records at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) which is even a subject of criminal prosecution at a magistrate's court in Abuja.
The Labour Party asked why it took Chief Martins so long to suddenly realise that he was asked to settle Barr Festus Keyamo and Mr. Ewulum and why he also waited to be arrested by IG of Police and charged to court before making this frivolous and spurious allegation. "Whose money did Chief Kenny Martins allegedly give to Barrister Festus Keyamo and Mr. Ewulum. His money or the fund meant for the police?
The party advised Chief Kenny Martins "to shut up, leave the path of blackmail and channel his efforts towards defending himself against the weighty and substantive allegations against him."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Leadership. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
