Coalition of Civil Society Organization under the aegis of Global Centre for conscious Living Against Corruption has described as
a fiction that exists only in the mind of the author, the petition addressed
on the 14th of May, 2022, to the state screening committee
of the APC, Cross River State purportedly signed by one Bala I. Dakum alleging
that Senator Bassey Otu who is a Governorship aspirant in Cross River State had
been convicted of fraud while working with his former employer, Mercantile Bank
of Nigeria Plc .
The Coordinator and Convener of the Organisation,Dr Gabriel Nwambu in a Press Briefing said the act was orchestrated and designed to mutilate the impeccable integrity of Senator Bassy Out who have served the Country meritoriously, performed credibly well and has marked in banking and public service respectively.
According to Nwambu the petitioner claimed that this alleged offence is in
contravention of the provisions of section 182 (e) of the 1999 Constitution as
amended.
He said sequel to the determination of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to
combat corruption in Nigeria, the Global Centre for Conscious Living Against
Corruption (A Coalition of 13 Anti-Corruption CSOs), decided to conduct a clinical,
very thorough, independent verification and fact finding exercise to ascertain the
veracity and facts of this grave allegation.
Consequently, and unraveled as follows:
That the name of the individual who purportedly signed the petition is non-
existent.
That the address used by the petitioner does not exist in reality. In other
words, it was a fabricated address.
That Senator Bassey Edet Otu served his former employer meritoriously
before he resigned his appointment to venture into politics.
That Senator Otu
was even bestowed with a meritorious service award by his former
employer for his exemplary conduct and dedication to duty.
That Distinguished Senator Edet Otu was never accused of any allegation
bothering on fraud, was never convicted, and therefore has not
contravened section 182 (e) as alleged by the ghost petitioner.
That Senator Otu is a graduate of Social Sciences from University of
Calabar and has served as a two-term Member of House of
Representatives for Calabar Municipal/Odukpani between May 2003 and
May 2011 and also served as a Senator representing Southern
Senatorial District of Cross River State from June 2011 to June2015.
That Senator Otu has contested election in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and
2019 respectively, stressing that he has been consistently screened by all the relevant
agencies of Government.
The Coordinator further stated that from the forgoing, it becomes evident that this fiction exists only in the mind of
the author of this script which was orchestrated, premeditated, designed to mutilate the impeccable integrity of Distinguished Senator Bassey Edet Otu who
has served this nation meritoriously, performed creditably well, and has made his
mark in banking and public service respectively.
The Coalition emphasised that in other word, Otu should be commended for his selfless and exemplary leadership style.
They enjoin Nigerians and indeed all persons aspiring for public position of
trust to face the realities of politics rather than the ‘Pull Him Down Syndrome’
which is inimical to deepening democracy in Nigeria but sadly has dominated our
political space.
