Following the arraignment of a former Commissioner for finance in Abia State, Dr Phillips Nto alongside four others this Friday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) the Chairman of Abia Coalition for Good Governance, Chief Livinus Onyekwere has been faulted for including Dr Nto, among those it arraigned in an Umuahia court for fraud.
Addressing Newsmen shortly after Dr Nto and his boss, Senator T.A.Orji, and three others were granted bail by Justice Lillian Abai, after pleading not guilty, Chief Onyekwere alleged that EFCC and those after the family of Senator T. A .Orji targeted Nto for witch-hunt because of his refusal to betray the former governor and turn a prosecution witness.
While describing the charges as politically motivated, he made it clear that those with vested political interests not only want to ruin the reputation of the former Governor but punish Nto for being fiercely loyal to him.
The Chairman of the Group noted that from the 16 counts read in the court, only the first count concerning the N2bllion loan granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria happened during the tenure of Dr Nto as commissioner for finance.
He regretted that none of the commissioners for finance and Accountants General comprising five persons who worked with the former Governor was charged with fraud.
The activist noted that the most disturbing phenomenon in the entire saga is that those who were key players in the administration of Senator Orji and were even signatories to the state accounts have all been listed as prosecution witness
Mr Onyekwere further alleged that Dr Nto was included in the charge sheet as a result of the insistence of top government officials and his refusal to turn against Senator Orji.
He, however, expressed that just as Dr Nto defeated the ICPC, which maliciously charged him to court for an alleged fraud, he will still come out victorious in the instant case.
” As for Dr Nto being innocent of the charges, there is no doubt about it. My happiness is that the matter has been charged to court after nine years of round robbin investigation by EFCC. Their case will collapse just like that of ICPC,” he submitted.
He said the majority of Abia youths stand in solidarity with Dr Nto, who he praised for being a good ambassador of theirs in government.
He recalled that when Dr Nto disbursed the N1 billion Central Bank of Nigeria loan, the officials of the bank wrote him a commendation letter because the names and addresses and phone numbers of beneficiaries were documented for easy verification.
“In fact, CBN rated Abia first in the 36 states in the strict adherence to rules released by the apex bank for the disbursement of the loan. Is it not funny that EFCC is charging him for doing his job according to the specification set out by the CBN?”, he asked
He, however, called on the former Commissioner not to entertain any fear whatsoever but to ensure that he stands firm on the truth, including being loyal and steadfast to his master, Chief TA Orji.
Recall, after nine years of investigations, the EFCC finally arraigned Former Governor, Senator T.A Orji , His Commissioner Dr Philips Nto and three others before an Abia High Court presided over by Justice Lillian Abai on a 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy to steal and convert billions of naira meant for various government programmes.
After all the five defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges, the counsels to the defendants filed bail applications on behalf of their clients.
In her ruling, Justice Abai granted the defendants bail before adjourning till June 18th and 19th, 2025 for trial.
