Businessman reports Umahi to IGP, alleges threat to life; $119.4 million Paris Club refund

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

Dr. Maurice Ibe, a businessman and financial advisor, has filed a complaint with the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Alkali Baba, saying that the governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, has threatened his life.
Ibe made the claim in the petition that Charles Ude, from Charles Ude and Co, Solicitors.

Because of the $119, 419,427.59 Paris Club reimbursement that his firm and others collected for the state but for which they were not paid their commission, he claimed that the governor had threatened to kill him.

In a petition written to the IGP, it was requested that the police prevent “Dave Umahi, Executive Governor of Ebonyi State’s Illegal and Unlawful Attempt to Abduct, Kidnap, and Harass Dr. Maurice Ibe.”
“Proactively take steps to thwart the move by the governor and the select police officers he has hired for the nefarious activities against Dr. Ibe,” the lawyer begged the IGP in his letter.

In a statement to Tracknews , the Governor, through his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Chooks Okoh, refuted Ibe’s assertions and referred to the financial consultant as a forgery not recognized by the Ebonyi State Government.
We don’t know who Maurice Ibe is, he said. He claimed to have assisted the Ebonyi State Government in recouping funds from the Paris Club, however it is well known that a consultant successfully recouped the funds on behalf of all the governors, with the plan being orchestrated by the Nigeria’s Governors Forum. What justification is there for someone to seek the Ebonyi State Government for funding for something that was obviously carried out by someone else on behalf of all the governors in Nigeria?

It’s a good thing he petitioned the police inspector general. Let the IGP conduct a thorough investigation and file charges against everyone responsible.
While this was going on, Ude argued in the petition that his client, who also serves as the CEO of Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited, Abuja, had been aware of some police officers making covert movements near his residence and business facilities in unmarked cars.

He asserted that he had grounds to believe that Umahi was giving the orders to the guys.
He claimed that the IGP must shield him from attack or kidnapping by police officers who the Governor is supposed to have dispatched for him.
According to the petition’s solicitor, Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited and Andrew Bishopton Limited, acting as partners, established a working arrangement that allowed them to cooperate on a consulting project for the Ebonyi State Government based on a Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU).

He asserted that the business connection helped the state recover $119, 419,427.59 in overpayments and other charges that the federal government of Nigeria had unjustly made on international loans used by the Ebonyi State Government between 1995 and 2002.

The petitioner further claimed that the Ebonyi State government had neglected to pay the consultants’ fees, as had been agreed upon between her and them.
According to the statement, the development prompted Andrew Bishopton Limited and Mauritz Walton Nigeria Limited to file a lawsuit against the government of Ebonyi State under the case number FHC/PH/CS/35/2022.

The attorney stated that the defendants were properly served with the originating summons, which was instituted at the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt Judicial Division, prior to the start of the suit’s hearing.

He continued by saying that the Ebonyi State Government hired a legal professional to represent her in court.
However, he said, Umahi had turned to utilizing the Abakiliki Command of the Nigerian Police Force to witch-hunt his client after his defeat at the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.

Ude brought up a previous action by Umahi, which he claimed involved using the Abakaliki Police Command to swoop on his partner Jackie Ikeotuonye, the CEO of Andrew Bishopton Limited. Ude referred the IGP to that action.

The lawyer continued, saying that his client and the CEO of Andrew Bishopton Limited had tried all diplomatically possible to get Umahi to pay them, but lamented that their efforts had been unsuccessful.

He claimed that given the circumstances, they had no choice but to haul him to the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court.

He further stated that as a result, on Thursday, July 21, 2022, the Court, presided over by Justice Stephen Daylop Pam handed down a ruling in their favor, directing Umahi and the Ebonyi State Government to pay them the agreed-upon sum in accordance with the services provided.

Unfortunately, he claimed that Umahi had used a variety of tactics to intimidate his client and his partner, including calling the Ebonyi Command of the Nigerian Police Force, who swiftly raided her home in Abuja and frightfully took her by force to Ebonyi, where she has been imprisoned since July 31, 2022.

“Our client had witnessed the tracking of his automobile and the odd movement of people in unmarked vehicles about his house and office, on or since the 31st of July, 2022,” he stated.

He is certain that he would have experienced the same loss of faith as Ms. Jackie if it weren’t for his personal security team.

Part of the petition stated, “He had fled on account of the same, and wants to reclaim his liberty and resume his regular activities, which he is presently unable to do due to the danger of Umahi’s brand of justice hanging over him like the “sword of Damocles.”