‘It’s absolute rubbish’ — Obono-Obla reacts to call for his arrest

Okoi Obono-Obla, senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on prosecution, says he must be a genius to have gone through law school and practised the profession for decades without a school leaving certificate.

Obono-Obla said this in reaction to the recommendation by a house of representatives committee that he should be arrested over his alleged possession of a fake West African Examination Council (WAEC) result.

The committee had said it discovered irregularities in the O’level result which the presidential aide has, following a petition to the house by the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA).

Reacting in a statement on Friday, the presidential aide described the call for his arrest as “absolute rubbish”, saying those behind it are “looters” whom he had investigated.

According to him, he had received a threat that he would be dealt with for investigating some “powerful people” in the national assembly.

“The call by the House of Representatives on Mr President to sack me for alleged certificate forgery is hogwash, balderdash and absolute rubbish!” he said.

“It is a hatchet job by agents and merchants of corruption and graft that have looted our country for the past 19 years to intimidate , hound and harass me. They are agents of looters that I have investigated. Is the house of representatives the police?

“Let me inform Nigerians how this people work. All the members of the House of Representatives Committee that purportedly investigated me were cohorts of some members of the National Assembly I was investigating.

“One of them openly boasted that for daring to investigating some powerful people in the National Assembly I will be dealt with.

“It is a reaction to my press conference early this week where I informed Nigerians that my Panel has forwarded the names of those under it investigation to the Nigeria Immigration Service to implement the travel ban stipulated by the Executive Order No 6 of 2018 for those under trial and investigation for corruption and abuse of office.”

Speaking on the alleged fake certificate, Obono-Obla said: “I must be a genius to pass through University and Law School, practice law for more than two decades without a “ school certificate”.

“I left university 30 years ago. I graduated and went to law school. I left Law School in 1990 and was called to Bar in June 1991.

“The university screened me and awarded me a degree after deeming me worthy and after fulfilling the entry requirements.

“I wrote JAMB and scored excellent grades in all the subjects I wrote. It is a blackmail contrived by looters and their agents using the House of Representatives.”

He added that he had filed a lawsuit against the lawmakers over the matter.

“I have even filed a suit in Court challenging the power of the house of representatives to conduct such an investigation,” he said.

“It is a hatchet job with a premeditated mission. The so called report is illegal and unconstitutional.

“The whole issue is really laughable but it is sad the extent to which corruption can fight back.”