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The ownership of Lekki Gardens Estate Limited in Lagos was the subject of a recent report that described former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio as owner of the company.
But the management of the company has described the report as false.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Director, Media and Communication, Lekki Gardens, Mr. Azuka Ugboh, said the company was not owned by Akpabio and urged members of the public not to believe the report.
He also stated that in its three years of existence, the estate company had never received any substantial capital boost from the Senate Minority Leader.
The statement read in part, “An October 17, 2015 report in a national newspaper titled: ‘EFCC quizzes Akapbio over alleged corruption’ had described the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State as the owner of Lekki Gardens.
“The publication further suggested that Senator Akpabio’s substantial investment in the company had enabled the firm grow from a middle market real estate consultancy firm to a major player in the property market in a period of barely five years.
“Mr. Ugboh reaffirmed that Lekki Gardens as a private property investment and development firm has no dealings with Senator Akapbio.
“Senator Akpabio has never injected capital into our company and we have never received any sort of funding from him since the inception of the company.”
Ugboh further stated that the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Richard Nyong, had never met or had any business dealings with Akpabio in relation to Lekki Gardens Limited or GTRich Investment Limited.
It will be recalled that last month, Akpabio was interrogated by EFCC for two days, over alleged diversion of Akwa Ibom State funds running into billions of naira, a charge, he vehemently denied.
However, the removal of Ibrahim Lamorde as EFCC boss may just add a fresh perspective to the corruption charges against Akpabio.
Mr Leo Ekpenyong, the lawyer who first brought the accusations of corruption against the former governor, in a another petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, last month accused Lamorde of mentoring Akpabio on how to write statements that would enable him escape culpability in the corruption case, and asked that he should hands off the matter until a new helmsman is appointed for the agency.
Ekpenyong said that given the evidence already in public domain, there was no need for EFCC to be shopping for evidence to prosecute the former governor and retrieve the state’s funds from him and his associates.
Ekpeyong was however arraigned in court last Thursday for defamation. He was arraigned by the police at the High Court in Gudu District, Abuja.
Reports said he was charged for the unsubstantiated allegations he made against top officials of the EFCC, while appearing on the African Independent Television, AIT.