Omo-Agege, Sobotie, Nwaoboshi, implicated in fresh contract scandal

A still unfolding scandal involving its state Chairman, Elder Omeni Sobotie as well as the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, recently jailed senator, Peter Nwaoboshi and a host of other surprising players in a convoluted drama reeking of greed and betrayal, cash and sleaze, inflated contracts and shoddily executed jobs, as well as failed banks and the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, is presently simmering beneath the surface in the high wire politics of Delta State.

While the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC in Delta State might be salivating at the troubles in the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and the prospect of the party not fielding a gubernatorial candidate for the 2023 elections, all is clearly not at ease in the opposition party, itself, if recent developments within its highest echelons are anything to go by.

Funny enough, these issues suddenly began to come to the fore thanks to a major falling out between fiery writer and human rights lawyer, Jesutega Onokpasa and his erstwhile friend and political associate, Sobotie, Omo-Agege’s imposed State Chairman of the APC.

While the state APC is doing all it can to keep their quarrel under wraps, it has nevertheless come as a great shock to the few both within and outside the party who have only recently learnt of the misunderstanding between them.

The few APC insiders in the know are fearful of the possible exit of Onokpasa from the party since unknown to many, he has been the brains behind the articulation of the party’s platform to Deltans, though mainly operating behind the scenes.

READ ALSO: Tinubu analyzes ‘six lies’ in Atiku’s recent…

Our investigations revealed that the disagreement between Onokpasa and Sobotie arose from a Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, contract for the rehabilitation of Ekwerhe Road, Agbarho, awarded to Sobotie, though clearly intended as compensation for both men for legal advice and media consultancy rendered in 2017-2018 by Onokpasa to recently jailed senator for Delta North Senatorial District, Peter Nwaoboshi, DailyTimesNGR gathered.

Our sources confirm that while Onokpasa, being both a well-known lawyer and prominent media player, did all the work, Sobotie nevertheless managed to place himself at the forefront of the job being the one who had introduced Onokpasa to Nwaoboshi and as a result the job was awarded to him, though for the benefit of both of them.

While it is not yet quite clear what transpired between then and now, it seems Sobotie could not process payment owing to the frosty relationship between Omo-Agege and former Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

It is said that at a point, Sobotie solicited Onokpasa to pressure former Executive Director, Projects, in the NDDC, Samuel Adjogbe, to facilitate payment but to no avail.

Nevertheless, once Akpabio was out of the way due to his now apparently misguided bid for the Presidency, the contract was paid sometime last month, June, 2023.

According to credible sources, problems started between Onokpasa and Sobotie when it was not from Sobotie but through a third party, altogether, that Onokpasa first heard that the job had finally been paid by NDDC, after many years.

When Onokpasa confronted him why the job would be paid and he wasn’t informed, Sobotie is said to have come up with the most ridiculous excuse expected of a man of his age and standing in the society.

According to our sources, Sobotie claimed that he was owing AMCON a huge amount of money due to bad loans he had accumulated thanks to deceitful advice from former Oceanic Bank boss, Cecelia Ibru and that his house along SSS Road, Asaba, was used as collateral for the loans and was on the verge of being auctioned off by AMCON, on the basis of which he pleaded with Onokpasa to bear with him and wait for something else to come up with which to compensate him.

These explanations on the part of the Delta APC Chairman did not sit well with Onokpasa who insisted that everyone has problems of their own to solve and that it is the height of betrayal, greed and fraudulent behavior for Sobotie to conclude that he is the only one with problems to solve and as such, therefore felt free to use their collective money to solve his personal problems which he, Onokpasa, was not even aware of in the first place.

THE OMO-AGEGE INVOLVEMENT

According to sources, Onokpasa had so far been reluctant to take up the matter because it could reflect badly on Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege as well as Chief Thomas Ereyitomi, current Member, House of Representatives for Warri Federal Constituency, even though Onokpasa had expressed disappointment in both men for not taking steps to amicably settle the dispute as expected of leaders of their stature.

A source who did not want his name in print said: “It is Omo-Agege who allegedly influenced AMCON to reduce Sobotie’s debt profile from a whooping 8 hundred million plus to under 150 million naira.”

While we cannot confirm that Sobotie was or is indebted to AMCON, another source, who also craved anonymity, said: “It is this sum which Sobotie seems to have insisted he deployed the entire contract payment to settling after sundry other expenses, hence he could not keep anything for Onokpasa, much less come up with his due share of the money”.

THE NWAOBOSHI CONNECTION

However, according to another reliable source, “the contract is said to have been facilitated by recently jailed Senator for Delta North, Peter Nwaoboshi, and was given to both Elder Sobotie and Barrister Onokpasa as compensation for standing by him through his travails during the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, while Nwaoboshi was still in the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.”

It was not clear as at going to press whether this particular contract was in any way indicated in the case that has ended up making Senator Nwaoboshi a convict and dealt a major blow to the APC in the state but already tongues have started wagging in Agbarho and environs how come a contract of nearly half a billion naira could have been awarded for the rehabilitation of a major road in the town and nothing substantial was done by the contractor.

A JOB WITH QUESTION MARK?

In fact, residents of the area, contacted by our correspondent, expressed anger and dismay over the scale and quality of work done for a job valued at such a humongous amount.

A community leader, along Ekwerhe Road axis, Mr. Onome Mukoro, lamented that “even though the contract was awarded to an indigene of the community, in the person of Elder Sobotie, only cosmetic work was done and yet over 400 million was collected on top of our heads!”

A PDP stalwart in the locality told our correspondent that the APC is even more corrupt than PDP.

According to him, “look at the road that Sobotie collected 500 million for! It is a river whenever it rains yet their party is always accusing our road master Governor of corruption and poorly executed projects. Look at the crooks who say they want to come and rescue Delta State!”

Nevertheless, certain usually credible sources insisted that the contract was actually awarded to Sobotie in the name of a company owned by Chief Thomas Ereyitomi, who is mutual friends with both Onokpasa and Sobotie but this could not be confirmed as at going to press.

However, our investigators confirmed that the cursory work done by Sobotie on the road were actually carried out by the Direct Labour Agency, DLA, a construction arm the of Delta State Government who only executed the job to the extent to which they were paid by Sobotie and according to his specifications!

THE CECILIA IBRU ANGLE

Our correspondent was informed by a dependable source that during a peace meeting brokered by some of their mutual friends, Sobotie kept trying to blame everything on Cecelia Ibru as the one who misled him into taking huge loans from banks to make all manner of investments in the stock market which later crashed, leading to his owing almost 1 billion naira with his mansion in Asaba on the line. This is said to have infuriated Onokpasa, who is said to have retorted that Sobotie “should leave that woman alone”, that “she has gone to jail and served her time and is not involved in what we are trying to settle here!”

According to Mukoro, “perhaps what is instructive in this matter is that some of the major dramatis personae have gone to jail or have been recently sentenced to prison. It would be a great tragedy for an old man like Sobotie and his cohorts to be next. Sobotie did nothing on this road. It is corruption of the highest order.”

ONOKPASA’S OMINOUS SILENCE

Many have expressed surprise that whereas Delta PDP Governorship Candidate, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori is both a cousin of Onokpasa and a fellow Okpe, Onokpasa is still reluctant to blow up his feud with Sobotie in order not to embarrass the likes of Omo-Agege, even though he suspects the Deputy Senate President of trying to dodge the issue, having apparently taken sides with Sobotie, as his handpicked State Chairman of the party.

A top insider in the state APC hierarchy, who wants to remain anonymous, expressed shock that Onokpasa and Sobotie could have such a major falling out over money, given how close they were and according to him, “how Barrister Onokpasa stood by him through thick and thin until he became state chair of our party.”

He said: “my brother, when some people see money they go completely mad, else how can one explain Sobotie insisting on keeping 400 million naira all to himself?”

Interestingly, it is said that Nwaoboshi had requested his share of the contract from Sobotie but the latter had told him there is nothing left, apparently confident that Nwaoboshi could not do anything to him having been jailed by the Court of Appeal and seemingly presently in hiding.

However, when contacted for his side of the story, Onokpasa said he is on vacation and won’t be available until month end.

Instructively, sources claim that Onokpasa had given Sobotie up till the end of July to come up with his money or face “every conventional or unconstitutional consequence available within the ambit of the law.”

For now, it is clear that all is not well within the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC even while its supporters are busy disparaging the ruling PDP at every slightest opportunity.

By Frederick Esakpegodi,
Asaba