As the battle between the Nigeria Police and Ifeanyi Ubah rages on over his alleged involvement in the fuel subsidy scam, a group under the auspices of Anambra Vanguard, an umbrella of progressive young entrepreneurs in Anambra State, has come out to stand behind the chief executive officer of Capital Oil & Gas Industries Limited as his travails prevails.
In a statement signed by the group’s General Secretary, Lazarus Okoye, it said that the case against Ubah was a “clear case of intimidation, blackmail and political witch-hunting orchestrated by his competitors in the oil and gas sector who are jealous of his rise to stardom in the business.”
The group further stated that trouble started for Ubah and his growing oil conglomerate when he started the Kero-Direct Initiative with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation to the utmost surprise of his competitors in the industry, adding that having seen the success he recorded in the initiative, other marketers began to be envious of him and went ahead to cook up stories against him.
The statement by Okoye added: “We wonder how Police will go and arrest a suspect, detain him in custody and continue investigation on an issue that has been in the public domain for the past eight months. The accepted norm is that police ought to have concluded investigations before launching the arrest. Even after he was charged to court, he was remanded in the custody to enable the police conclude investigations. This is absurd and we want the world to know that the case against him was ill-motivated.”
Anambra Vanguard further stated that the Kero-Direct initiative was meant to alleviate the sufferings of the downtrodden, which Ubah stands for, and wonders why such gesture and sacrifice on the part of Ubah should be misconstrued for “brisk business”.
The statement said: “Ubah deserves commendation and not condemnation. He has through the initiative touched lives in virtually all parts of the country. He should rather be patted on the back than this humiliation being meted out on him. It is because of this wrong attitude in punishing good people that you find many rich Nigerians preferring to stash their money in the banks instead of using their wealth to assist the less privileged in the society.”
The group further stated that since the issue of scam in the fuel subsidy became public, both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Police have on different occasions invited Ubah and his company to make explanations in their transactions in the fuel subsidy regime, adding that it beats the imagination why the police had to go to his house in his absence, ransack it and cart away both documents and exotic cars.
“It was sheer intimidation and wickedness orchestrated by people who are not comfortable with the steady growth of Ifeanyi Ubah in the industry. And the best strategy they think could cow him is to use police to harass him,” Anambra Vanguard said.
It however said that if there is concrete evidence indicating that Ubah and his companies indeed committed infractions, due process should be followed in trying him.
Trending
- Alleged defilement of girlfriend: 23-year-old student freed after two years
- We’re not aware of any BoT in Labour Party — NEC
- Anambra police station attacked, set ablaze
- National Convention: We gave INEC over 100 days notice – LP
- Naira falls against dollar by 0.7%
- Delta Killings: Traditional ruler declared wanted surrenders self
- 3rd Mainland Bridge: Minister gives date for full reopening
- Eve’s Desire: Challenges of a loveless marriage, by Tiwa Says