TheCable

Uche Secondus, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to stop “vandalising” his name over allegations of looting.

In a letter addressed to Ibrahim Magu, EFCC acting chairman, Secondus said he never collected any money from Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA), as is being alleged.

The former NSA is being prosecuted for allegedly diverting $2.1billion meant for procurement of arms.

The EFCC had alleged the PDP chairman collected N200 million from Dasuki, an allegation he denied.

Secondus’ name was on an alleged looters list released by the federal government.

He had sued Mohammed and the federal government, demanding N1.5 billion as damages over the publication.

The Rivers state high court where the suit was filed had granted him leave to summon Mohammed, and also restrained the minister from publishing his name as a looter.

In the letter signed by Emeka Etiaba, his lawyer, and copied to Abubakar Malami, minister of justice, the PDP national chairman asked the EFCC to go to court with evidence that he looted the nation’s treasury if it has any.

He said the continued listing of his name among looters might be part of the “desperate” attempt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration “to suppress him.”

“It is our hope that the subsisting order of court should be obeyed and if the commission has evidence of collection of money from the office of the NSA by our client, the commission should avail such information to the federal government for its defence of the suit,” the letter read.

“Our client wishes for the umpteenth time to state that he neither collected money from the office of the NSA nor instructed anybody to collect money on his behalf.

“He also wishes to state that he never had a special assistant by name Chukwurah who is being touted as the one that collected the sum of N200 million on his behalf.

“Our client hopes that the ongoing scandalisation of his name is not a ploy by the commission to give effect to the desperate attempt by the federal government to intimidate him and destroy his credibility and that of the PDP as well as other opposition leaders as the general elections approach in the pretext of war against corruption.”