…Directs IGP to prosecute him
The House of Representatives on Thursday adopted the report of its Ad-Hoc Committee on the Need to Investigate the Legality and Modus Oparandi of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel (SPIP), demanding the sack of its Panel’s Chairman, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, over alleged forgery of Ordinary Level West African School Certificate.
The House also urged President Mohammadu Buhari to “dissolve the Panel in view of the arbitrary use of powers and abuse of office by the Chairman”.
Recall that the Ad-hoc Committee conducted an extensive public investigation on the activities of SPIP in July this year owing to allegations of corruption contained in the audit report of the Auditor-General of the Federation on the financial transactions of the Panel.
There were also various allegations of abuse of powers and forgery of West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate against Obono-Obla.
Making its findings known in July, the Committee chaired by Hon. Aliyu Ahman-Pategi (APC, Kwara) said that whereas the WAEC result (Examination No. 09403/247 May/June 1982) with which Chief Obono-Obla obtained admission and studied Law at the University of Jos as Okoi Ofem Okoi showed that he made five credit passes, including Literature-in-English, official letters from WAEC dated 11th and 17th April 2018 and signed by Mr. A. A Okelezue and Mr. Olu Adenipekun, respectively, showed that Obono-Obla was absent for Literature-in-English.
Also testifying under oath, WAEC Deputy Registrar, Mr. Femi Ola, affirmed that the certificate was forged.
Asked how he would describe the WAEC result, which Obono-Obla parades when compared to the one tendered by it, Mr. Ola said Obono-Obla’s result was “altered”, “not genuine”, and “invalid”.
The Committee also reports that a letter by University of Jos dated 11th July 2018 and signed by the Registrar, Monday Danjem confirmed that Obono-Obla gained admission into the Law Faculty of the University of Jos with the same controversial result.
Adopting the Ad-Hoc Committee’s report, therefore, the House resolved that “the Law Degree of Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, having been obtained fraudulently, should be withdrawn by the University of Jos”.
It asked the Body of Benchers to withdraw his call to Bar Certificate, while also asking the Nigeria Bar Association to prosecute Obono-Obla, who doubles as the Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution, before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.
“The President should discharge Chief Okoi Obono-Obla of his responsibility as Special Adviser and Chairman of the SPIP.
“Chief Obono-Obla should be prosecuted by the Inspector-General of Police and charged to court for forgery and misrepresentation”, the House demanded.
It directed the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA) to serve the House Resolution on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Inspector-General of Police (IGP), President of the NBA, and Vice Chancellor, University of Jos for implementations.
It is recalled, however, that Obono-Obla had declined several invitations during the House investigation, but instead sued the House for lack of powers to investigate his certificates or the modus Operandi of the SPIP.
