By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA – Former Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, Sunday, denied allegation that he borrowed over N2.8billion while in office as Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

Kuku, via a statement signed by his lawyer, Chief G.E. Ezeuko, SAN, accused a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Chibudom Nwuche of lying against him.

Nwuche had in a suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2609/16, which he filed before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on September 27, claimed that the Amnesty Office under Kuku, obtained from him, loan totalling the sum of N2, 864, 584, 979.00.

However, Ezeuko, SAN, insisted that his client could not have borrowed such amount of money from Nwuche considering that the Amnesty Programme was well funded under ex-President Jonathan.

Kuku

He said: “I have been duly informed by my Client, Hon. Kingsley Kuku and I wholeheartedly believe him, that it is not true that he or the Amnesty Offfice owe Hon. Chibudom Nwuche the aforementioned sum of money.

“He has told me that while he served as the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, he never ever borrowed money in his personal capacity or on behalf of the office from Hon. Chibudom Nwuche.

“Rather, Hon. Kuku has informed my law firm that it is actually Hon. Chibudom Nwuche that is owing the Presidential Amnesty Office and the Federal Government of Nigeria, the said sum of N2, 864, 584, 979.00 (Two Billion, Eight Hundred and Sixty Four Million, Five Hundred and Eighty Four Thousand, Nine Hundred and Seventy Nine Hundred Naira), being part payment to him to fund the contract awarded to his firm, Foundation for Youth Development (FYD) by the Amnesty Office between 2012 and 2013, to provide offshore training for Niger Delta youths in construction, Information Technology and Welding in Vietnam, Malaysia and at the World Maritime University in Sweden, under the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

“Hon. Kuku has informed me, and I believe him, that after being paid this huge sum of money to fund the contract, Hon. Chibudom Nwuche and his firm, Foundation for Youth Development, failed to execute this contract as stipulated in the letter of award.

“I have been duly informed by my Client, Hon. Kuku, that while he served as the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, concerted efforts were made to get Hon. Chibudom Nwuche to timorously execute this contract but all to no avail.

“Let me emphasise that as Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku did not, and could not have obtained a loan on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria from Hon. Chibudom Nwuche.

“There are clearly laid down procedure or processes that departments and agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria usually follow while seeking to obtain loan on behalf of the Federal Government from either institutions or individuals.

“We challenge Hon Chibudom Nwuche to produce any iota of proof to back his rather comical claim that he gave a loan to the Presidential Amnesty Office under Hon. Kingsley Kuku.

“Even more important is the fact that while Kingsley Kuku served as the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, the Federal Government of Nigeria was properly funding the Presidential Amnesty Programme and this fact aided the deepening of peace, safety and security in the Niger Delta.

“Flowing from this fact oil production from the zone and export peaked at 2.6 Million Barrels per day at some point.

“Hon. Kuku has told me and I believe him, that given this good funding of the Amnesty Programme under President Goodluck Jonathan, the Amnesty Office could not have sought or obtained a loan from Hon. Chibudom Nwuche or any other person for that matter to fund the Programme.

“The fact that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is currently investigating Hon. Chibudom Nwuche over this matter is well known and has been widely reported in the Nigerian media. Equally well known is the fact that Nwuche has become extremely desperate to pass off his indemnity to Hon. Kuku simply because Kuku is not in the country presently to defend himself.

“On this score, we fear that Hon. Chibudom Nwuche is unconscionably seeking to extract an unjust and unfair endorsement of his spurious claims against Kuku via judicial ambush”, the statement read.