The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has on Wednesday vowed to probe the allegations of bribery and other financial improprieties levelled against the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole.
The spokesperson of the ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, made the commitment in reaction to a protest by members of the APC under the aegis of Coalition 4 New Nigeria who stormed the headquarters of the commission in Abuja.
The anti-Oshiomhole protesters numbering over 100 and led by a legal practitioner and civil rights activist, Stanley Onukwufor, carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘With Oshiomhole APC is nowhere,’ ‘ICPC, probe Oshiomhole now,’ ‘Buhari, remove Oshiomhole,’ ‘Oshiomhole is corrupt,’ and ‘Oshiomhole must go.”
Okoduwa, while addressing the protesters, said, “First of all, we will verify whether indeed he has a petition and from there, we will look at what they are complaining against. Then, the next step is to investigate the petition and see whether there is anything worthy of investigating in the matter.
“We thank you for bringing us the petition and you have done the right thing by going through the process of submitting your petition. I think you have already done what you needed to do. Any petition to the ICPC always gets attention. So, we will definitely see your petition, it will simply be treated the same manner we treat every other petition in addressing grievances.”
Earlier, Onukwufor had said, “The truth of the matter is that Oshiomhole has failed in the way the APC primaries were conducted. We are therefore challenging the ICPC to look into the allegations against Oshiomhole and bring him to book.
“Why would he do the kind of things he did, the APC primaries were all messed up and he is nowhere to be found. That is not the kind of APC chairman we want in our party. The ICPC should look at the allegations in the petition against Oshiomhole. We want him investigated and probed.
“Oshiomhole has done so much that is not good. The allegation of corruption against him cannot continue and that is why we are saying that Oshiomhole should quit. There is need to punish and bring to book those who contravene the nation’s laws. If there are cases against him, Oshiomhole should come and answer.”
