Former Governor of Abia State, Senator Theodore Orji, has dismissed as misleading, media reports that a federal High Court in Abuja had ordered interim forfeiture of N228.4m traced to him.
The former Governor who said he was embarrassed by the trending report, credited to the News Agency of Nigeria, explained that he had no pending suit before any court on the said subject.
Senator Orji further said that the persons said to have been arrested in connection with the case were never his Aides nor business allies as erroneously reported in the said report.
Orji said that the report was frot with errors in facts as Erondu Uchenna Erondu mentioned in the report as his Special Adviser on Special Duties was never so appointed by him.
He also said he had no business transactions with Effdee Nigeria Ltd nor a banker, Austin Akuma mentioned in the misleading report.
The former Governor who spoke through his Aide, Hon. Ifeanyi Umere, expressed shock that a reputable news agency like NAN could commit such a costly error of fact.
He demanded an immediate retraction of the said trending report, as well as an apology from NAN, over the embarrassment the report had caused him.
He said:”Our attention has been drawn to a media media report, claiming that a federal high court in Abuja has made an order of interim freezing and forfeiture of the sum of over 228.4m linked to Senator TA Orji to the Federal Government on allegations of money laundering.
“This is to notify the general public that the said report is false and misleading as there is no pending case in any court involving Senator TA Orji and honourable Erondu Uchenna Erondu, a former Special Adviser to ex-Governor Okezie Ikpeazu with EFCC as contained in the news report.
A thorough scrutiny of the whole story which emanated from News Agency of Nigeria, revealed that the reporter of NAN, in the bid to break the supposed story, ended up publishing fake news, as he referred to Erondu as the Special Adviser to Senator TA Orji.
“The reporter who did not cross-check his story ought to know that the story in question between Erondu, Austin Akuma of Keystone Bank, Effdee Nigeria Limited and EFCC happened between 2016 and 2017 few years after Senator TA Orji had left office as the Governor of Abia State.
”Once again, the said report about a purported court order allegedly freezing the sum of N228.4 million has nothing to do with former Governor Theodore Orji.
” This was a pure case of error of fact by the reporter or his medium. Senator Orji has no such suit pending before any court. Besides, other characters being mentioned in the case were never Orji’s aides, and never had any dealings with him.
“Media organizations should try to get their facts correct to avoid misleading their audience. The general public should disregard the misleading publication.”
The former Governor said his legal team had been detailed to take necessary action about the embarrassing report.
Senator Orji, however, assured that he would not hesitate at any time, when called upon by any anti-graft agency, to come and give account of his stewardship as Abia State Governor as he has nothing to hide.
