Yenagoa — The Niger Delta Justice Forum (NDJF) yesterday said it had uncovered a plot to sponsor protest against a former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, and a former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva.
The group said the protest was scheduled to hold in Abuja at the premises of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as part of ongoing sponsored campaign of calumny against Wabote and Sylva.
"Already, hundreds of willing youths are being recruited for an agreed fee and they will be transported to the EFCC office in Abuja for the purpose of this evil mission" the group led by Sorowei Johnson alleged.
A former member of the House of Representatives, Israel Sunny-Goli, had petitioned the EFCC to probe the multi-million-naira investments done by the NCDMB.
Sunny- Goli, who represented Nembe/ Brass Federal Constituency in the 9th Assembly said he was calling for a "thorough investigation and possible prosecution as it relates to the disbursement of funds for the Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Limited, the Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited as well as the Brass Petroleum Product Terminal Limited.
But in statement signed Johnson, the group said the protest was borne out of malice to stampede the anti-graft agency to act over what it described as frivolous petition to the agency against Wabote.
He urged the anti-graft agency and relevant security agencies to be on the watch, lamenting that the protest could destabilise the peace in the capital territory.
He advised the EFCC to remain professional and resist the grand plot to coerce it into taking any hasty step in the feud involving certain actors.
The group alleged that Wabote was rushed out of office when his tenure had not ended and the person who took over from him, barely five months in the saddle, is already having running battle with the Minister over undue interference in the day to day running of the agency.
" We call on the EFCC not to be swayed by rent-a-crowd-antic. Rather follow due diligence and investigate the hefty allegations and we also call on President Bola Tinubu to look into the Wabote/Heineken Lokpobiri feud by setting up a probe panel," it added.
