“I don’t respond to ranting of illiterates. BB Apugo is an illiterate. If he says he’s not one, he should go the newspapers he uses to criticise me to show them his Primary, Secondary and University certificates. That’s when I’ll stop calling him an illiterate”, Senator Theodore Ahamefule Orji, representing Abia Central in the Senate declared in Umuahia on Sunday.
Briefing some select group of Abia journalists in his country in Umuahia on Sunday, the Senator accused the chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) member of pointing corruption charges at the wrong direction when he himself is being holed up at an Umuahia High Court over some corruption charges bordering on land grabbing.
“How do I waste my time on such a person? This is a man that sent allegedly away his first wife and his children. They were suffering in Lagos. When I became governor, I went to his house and pleaded with him to bring them back and he said they’ll not enter his compound.
“Today, what the children are will be substantially attributed to me. I brought them back and showed them the way. He didn’t take care of his wife even when she was sick in Abuja and when she died he (Apugo) didn’t see his corpse. Is that a normal person?” he asked rhetorically.
Apugo has in a recent interview asked the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) to arrest Senator TA Orji for corruption activities. However, a visible angry Orji asked who between him and Apugo is corrupt.
“He talks nonsense! He talks corruption, corruption, corruption. If you’re being investigated, does that mean you’re corrupt? He is even the person who has a case with the EFCC in the court. And whenever they’ll bring up the case, he’ll write petition and said it’s the TA Orji’s judge; TA Orji is the person sponsoring it.
“I’m his nightmare! Whenever it gets to any judge, he’ll write petition and said the judge is a friend to TA Orji and they’ll transfer the case to another judge, but right now the case in where he cannot removed.
“He grabbed all the lands where the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Abia office was situated. I went to his house and he brought out documents; documents everywhere and said they’re his lands and I said allow us to have CBN in Abia State, he refused and said unless we give him N500million and I paid him’ go and asked him.
“N500milion for that place that the CBN s situated, he’ll not deny it, he took the money. And that was when he withdrew his thugs from the land, the thugs were there harassing the people who went to begin CBN project. He lied that he was instrumental to the establishment of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUA) Umudike and Federal Medical Centre, (FMC), Umuahia.
“How can an illiterate attract a university? Does he know the value of education? He claims that the whole lands in Ogurube layout is his land. How can that be possible? We’re challenging the bad aspect of his life, i.e.-grabbing land. The one before the EFCC was about land grabbing.
“I didn’t know of it, it was when he was arrested that I knew, but he went about telling people that it was TA Orji that invited EFCC to arrest him when in actual fact that I don’t even know anything about it. It is his sin that made EFCC to arrest him. Everything TA Orji; I’m his nightmare, I’m his nightmare! And I’ll remain his nightmare.
Uche Nwosu is a two time Shell Petroleum PLC award winner in the year 2000;
He won the Shell Award on Investigative Journalism and Environmental Cleanliness.
