SEE WHY TOMPOLO REFUSED TO HONOUR EFCC AND COURT INVITATION
Former Niger Delta warlord, Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo has revealed why he is yet to honour the invitation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over an alleged
N34bn fraud, explaining that he does not want to be arraigned before a
biased judge.
Tompolo, who accused the federal government of flouting court orders
with impunity, said no one should be above the law, even as he promised
to honour the invitation of the anti-graft agency, claiming to be
innocent in the dealings he had with the Nigerian Maritime Safety
Agency, NIMASA.
His media aide, Paul Bebenibo, who requested the EFCC to give the
former militant commander more time to honour its summons, told TheCable
in an interview that Tompolo, “will appear before the EFCC but the
court case he has with them has to be settled before he will honour the
invitation.
“Be that as it may, adherence to constitutionalism and the rule of
law should not be on one part. There have been so many court
pronouncements which the government and its agencies have refused to
obey.
“The federal government should also respect the rule of law. Imagine
the president saying that some persons should be kept in custody when
the court asked that they should be freed. It doesn’t work. Tompolo will
certainly appear because there is no misdeed on his part as far as the
transactions with the federal government and NIMASA are concerned. As I
speak to you now, his lawyers are working to sort that out.
“There is no misdeed on the part of Tompolo as far as this issue that
he is having with the EFCC is concerned. He was actually the backbone
of NIMASA in recovering the levies, taxes and so on, since he has
interest in Global West Vessel Company, which does the job for NIMASA.
“So, if there is any financial issue that has got to do with NIMASA,
Global West and Tompolo, he is very innocent. His records in ensuring
that the public-private partnership which Global West had with NIMASA
worked out for good are out known.
“So, one needs to be careful in order not to appear before just any
court. Tompolo would not allow himself to be ridiculed, never. He would
not appear before just any judge that would not be able to give
effective judgment. Not a judge that would make pronouncement that would
tie his hands, he won’t appear before such judge.”
While noting that his principal know nothing about the recent attack
on oil installations in the Niger Delta, Bebenibo said, “Tompolo would
not condescend so low to attack oil installations because he is being
invited by the EFCC.
“It is a non-issue. Afterall, he is in court with the EFCC. He went
to court two months after the EFCC froze his account without any court
mandate. He challenged them in court and the EFCC invited him after
that, so Tompolo is not afraid of appearing before EFCC. He will
certainly appear but he should be given more time.”
On speculations that Tompolo has ran away from the country, Bebenibo
said: “Flee to where? Tompolo has not left this country before. Since he
accepted the amnesty offer of the late President Musa Yar’Adua, he has
remained in this country. He cannot go through the backdoor.”
