An Abuja-based financial consultant, Dr Jackie Ikeotuonye has accused Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. Dave Umahi of threatening her life and therefore called on the Inspector General of Police Usman Baba for protection.
Debunking the “false allegations” against her by the state government, the businesswoman said that the call became necessary because she believes some unknown faces are stalking her, which has necessitated her abandoning her residence.
Daughter of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Late Chief ABC Ikeotuonye, Jackie said she is not safe since her company and partner took the Ebonyi State government to court for its failure to pay the agreed fees for job done.
Jackie Ikeotuonye said the state government engaged her company, Andrew Bishopton Limited and partner, Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited to recover money wrongly deducted by the Federal Government on foreign loans from the state government between 1995 and 2002.
“Andrew Bishopton Limited and partners were appointed by the Ebonyi State government as a consultant to recover excess deductions/charges on foreign/local loan facilities and other hanging funds on behalf of Ebonyi State via a letter dated 6th October 2015 and signed by the then Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Dr Dennis UdeEkumankama”, Ikeotuonye said.
According to her, the appointment was followed by a consultancy services agreement signed between the state and Andrew Bishopton on the 17th of November 2015 where it was stated that the state would pay the company 25 percent of the sum reconciled, recovered, and paid into the account of the state by the Federal Government.
The state government, she added, went further to introduce Andrew Bishopton to the relevant government agencies – Central Bank of Nigeria, Debt Management Office (DMO), and the Federal Ministry of Finance – as contained in the agreement to enable the company and its partner have access to the relevant departments and information during the assignment.
She further stated: “The assignment commenced in earnest, without any form of financial mobilisation or upfront payment from the state. The governor, during the first meeting, made it clear through his Commissioner for Finance that he was not going to mobilise us for the job.
“The company had to seek other avenues to finance the assignment. And this led to the joint partnership with Dr Mauruis Ibe of Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited, who bore the bulk of the expenses incurred during the assignment. As the assignment progressed, reports were submitted to the state.
“At the completion of the assignment, the company sent another letter dated February 9th 2016 to the Debt Management Office to update them on the progress of work done and the outcome of the work done on behalf of Ebonyi State.
“The company had to seek other avenues to finance the assignment. And this led to the joint partnership with Dr Mauruis Ibe of Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited who bore the bulk of the expenses incurred during the assignment. As the assignment progressed, reports were submitted to the state.
After the assignment, the petitioner further said, the company sent another letter dated 9th February 2016 to the Debt Management Office to update them on the progress of work done and the outcome of the work done on behalf of Ebonyi State.
“The DMO, in a letter dated 1st August 2016, requested the state to attach all relevant documents to back up their demand for a refund. All these documents were duly provided to the state by my company.
“Meanwhile, on completion of the assignment, the Governor sent in two demand letters to the Minister of Finance for the repatriation of the reconciled amount of $119, 419,427.59, being over deductions on the account of Ebonyi State Government foreign loans service. Another letter was also sent to the Director General, Debt Management Office”.
Ikeotuonye’s petition emphasised that $119,419,427.59 was recovered by her company and partners for the state government, but the government defaulted in the payment of the consultancy fees agreed between it and the consultants, which prompted the companies to drag the state government to court.
She said that immediately after the first tranche of the money was paid to the Ebonyi State government, it sent in “their so-called letter of disengagement by quoting we never did any work since the appointment was given. They also quoted a letter from DMO telling them they do not work with individual consultants.
“The Governor specifically mentioned in his demand letters that what he was asking for was premised on the report submitted by Andrew Bishopton Limited. Yet, they claimed we did nothing. It might interest you to know that Ebonyi State sadly has an antecedent for disengaging consultants at the point of payment for services.
“The first tranche of payment made to the state was N8,385,035,086.72 based on the Governors’ Forum payment schedule. We then sent in a demand for our fees of N2,096,258,771.68 in a letter dated 11th December 2016 because we noticed that the state reneged on the agreement to provide an irrevocable standing order conveying 25 percent of all money recovered by the consultant and have the fund domiciled in the then Skye Bank.
When some highly placed people intervened and the Ebonyi State government agreed to pay N50,000,000.00, but transferred N42,000,000:00, and Ikeotuonye was compelled to sign that she would make no further demands hence, the partners had no option but to approach the Federal High Court. The court, the petitioner further said, gave judgment in their favour and further frozen the state government’s bank accounts.
She said that, on 31 August 2022, armed men numbering about 10 in number from both Ebonyi Police Command and Garki Police Station “stormed my house at Brains and Hammers Estate in Apo-Abuja, with a warrant of arrest purportedly from a Magistrate’s court in Ebonyi that I was under arrest for defrauding the Ebonyi State Government to the tune of N50 million”.
She said she was taken to Ebonyi State, and, on arrival, was marched straight to the Governor’s Office. The petitioner said that she was compelled to sign some documents to vacate the Federal High Court judgment in Port Harcourt, which she complied and was released after four days.
Ikeotuonye stated: “Since then, Governor Umahi has been after me insisting that I must go to Port Harcourt and file an application to set aside the judgment. I was strongly advised against this by legal experts. The Governor, rather than appeal the judgment, is hounding me.”
When contacted, the Special Assistant to Ebonyi State Governor on Media and Strategy, Chooks Oko said that the Police are handling the issue and the garnishee order vacated. “That’s why I was surprised by your request”, he added.
Efforts to reach the Police command in Ebonyi State was not successful before press time.
