Date Published: 01/28/10

BAYELSA STATE TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE

Ekeki, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State

bayelsastatetransparencyinitia tive@yahoo.com 

December 24th , 2009 

The Executive Chairman

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)

Abuja 

Attention: Mrs. Farida Waziri 

EFCC: WHY THE DEPUTY GOVERNOR OF BAYELSA STATE HON. PEREMOBOWEI EBEBI SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED 

Introduction 

When you took over as Chairman of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), most Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief that a Daniel has Come to Judgment”.  We are not also unaware of the positive strides you have taken to curb corruption in spite of the monumental legal and administrative constraints facing the Commission. The Commission was established by the Federal Government through the Act of the National Assembly passed the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC Act of 2004, statutorily empowered to cause investigations to be conducted as to whether any person, corporate body or organization has committed any offence related to economic and financial crimes. In addition, the Commission is conferred with powers to cause investigations into the properties of any person if it appears to the Commission that the person’s life style and extent of the properties are not justified by his source of income. (Cf: Section 7 (1; a & b) of the Act.) 

Since you assumed office, you have restructured the Commission for efficient service delivery. You have also encouraged whistle blowers to alert the Commission on any suspected case of corrupt enrichment. But the recent report of the TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL about the rising Corruption Perception Index of Nigeria  calls for the intensification of the fight against corruption. 

WHY HON. PEREMOBOWEI EBEBI  SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED 

Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi became a Law Maker representing Ekeremor Constituency II since May 29 1999, he has since remained in public office till date. He plays a survivalist politics and has a penchant to betray the trust reposed on him by his bosses. Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi – the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State is also associated with politics of mudslinging, back-stabbing and betrayed of his bosses. First, when his erstwhile boss (now)  Senator Heineken Lokpobiri was Speaker of the Bayelsa State, he was paid about One Hundred Million Naira (N100,000,00) in bribe to facilitate the impeachment of the Speaker. He was then rewarded with the post of Speaker. As Speaker, most members of the House accused him of high handedness - as he adopted a policy of divide and rule, sidelined a section his erstwhile boss and awarded sundry contracts to himself without Due Process. Those Contract awarded during that period in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly (BSHA) should be investigated to authenticate this allegation. When Governor DSP Alamieyeseigha was arrested in London following corruption charges, Hon. Ebebi jumped ship and joined forces with Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. He  played the role of Judas Iscariot and led his master to the slaughter. For his enormous role in the impeachment of Governor DSP Alamieyeseigha, he was rewarded with the plum position of Deputy – Governor while Dr. Goodluck Jonathan became Governor of Bayelsa State. Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha are alive and may avail the EFCC of the dubious activities of Hon Ebebi. 

Hon Ebebi has about Fifty Houses (50) in strategic locations only in Yenagoa. A conservative estimate of these property is estimated at N10. 8 billion. He is widely adjudged the richest politician in Bayelsa State. In Port Harcourt, Hon. Ebebi owns 2 Housing Estates and dozens of houses built with the stolen money from Bayelsa State. Ebebi also has about 3 filling Stations in Yenagoa and more than 4 Houses in Calabar, Cross Rivers State. Ebebi also has also made substantial investments in stocks and bonds. His wife Mrs. Tikere Ebebi is building a multi-million naira hotel at BayBridge Road in Bayelsa State. Ebebi’s LATIK HOTEL at INEC Road is one of the most expensive in Yenagoa. Amidst this stupendous wealth, the masses are denied basic amenities in his Constituency at Ekeremor, where most communities . 

During the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Hon Ebebi was given charge of the Local Governments. With a weak and lenient and compromising Governor, Hon Ebebi had a field day in looting Local Government Funds. Reports from impeccable sources have it that when Chief B.W. Degi - Eremienyo was the Commissioner for Local Government and Rural Development, the Deputy Governor is  demanded for a commission of N5 million, which he collected from each of the 24 Local Government created by the Alamieyeseigha administration. He got more from the 8 federally recognized LGAs. The money was used to buy large expanses of land and other landed property. What the ordinary man in the streets of Yenagoa cannot dispute is that Hon Peremobowei Ebebi is one public officer who milked the Local Governments and stagnated their development against the will of the people, even before Governor Timipre Sylva came to power.  He rode roughshod because Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is a man of peace who never wanted any serious disagreements with him for fear of impeachment.  

Our investigations also revealed that the when the under Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the Capital City Development Authority was created to put in place to build some physical infrastructure, Hon Ebebi is believed to have suggested the name of Anyiam Osigwe as a contractor, and for that role negotiated a kick back of 10%. Little wonder that Hon Ebebi almost compelled Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to hurriedly concluded a contract with Anyiam Osigwe an-Igbo contractor to build the 4-star Hotel near the Ox-now lake. However, when Bayelsa indigenes got to know that the contract to build 4-Start they rejected the idea. This led to consistent, sustained protest against the policy. When the VP eventually tried to revoke the contract, Anyiam Osigwe threatened litigation hence the VP was blackmailed to award a contract the build a 4 star Hotel at the whopping sum of N3.2 billion. While negotiation were going on, the value of the contract was reviewed upwards to N5 billion. Today, the Igbo contractor Anyiam Osigwe is a billionaire contractor in Bayelsa State, with Ebebi benefiting from a huge kick-back. We of the Bayelsa Transparency Initiative thought that the days of 10percentile syndrome were over.  

Governor Goodluck Jonathan, while in office proceeded on a 7-day leave and Ebebi-the Deputy Governor held proxy for the Governor. Within this short period, Ebebi misappropriated N3.2 billion in the form of frivolous contracts awarded to members of the House of Assembly without due process. Authentic sources say the Present Speaker Rt. Hon. Werinipre Seibarugu took tutorials from him when he embezzled N27billion,  with the 30 days  Governor Timipre Sylva’s election was annulled by the Court of Appeal. Many concerned Bayelsa people had raised alarm and done many write-ups on the wanton embezzlement and on this frivolity before now. 

On assumption of office, the Governor Timipre Sylva sought to entrench transparency and accountability as the bastions of good governance hence he established the e-governance and Due Process Bureau and introduced fiscal discipline. Today, there exists the Public Procurement Law and the Fiscal Responsibility Law. With these laws in place, the Deputy Governor Hon. Ebebi was stripped of the powers to purloin Local Government funds. The Deputy Governor, who is a Lawyer knows nothing about transparency and fiscal discipline. For him, the “Zero sum” syndrome had changed the of “business as usual” scenario. Since then there had been no love lost between the two occupants of Creek Haven. This was the genesis of strained relations with the State Governor. 

The PDP Primaries of November 28, 2009 was only used as an excuse to vent his pent up anger on the Governor. There was no supremacy contest between Chief Timipre Sylva and Group and Ebebi. At the Ekeremor Local Government Council, some commissioners were believed to have opposed the Deputy Governor’s choice of candidate for the Chairmanship. Among those opposed to Ebebi’s choice one Bekis Etifa - Commissioner of Youths and conflict Resolution, Comrade Jonathan Lokpobiri – the Ijaw Youth Council Chairman (Bayelsa Central). It is indeed unpatriotic for Rt. Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi to impose mediocrity on his people.  

Having lost out in the Primaries, Ebebi felt his office was diminishing and his empire was collapsing like a pack of cards. He rented a crowd of militants and miscreants to protest against the elections, who shot, and defaced the billboards of Governor Timipre Sylva. Reports from impeccable sources have it that the Deputy Governor shot a young man believed to be against his candidate and the fate of the boy is unknown. Rt. Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi is neither a Policeman nor a member of the notorious Joint Military Task Force (JTF), then how did he possess a lethal weapon to shoot a person? This matter calls for serious police investigation.  
 

OUR SUBMISSION 

It is our prayer that Rt. Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi  should submit himself for anti-corruption test to be conducted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, and explain the source of his stupendous wealth. Finally, by the provisions of the EFCC and the powers invested on it, EFCC should meticulously investigate and prosecute Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi based on the weight of allegations contained herein. The time has come for the whole world to know the truth the thick fog of grave financial malpractices and corruption mystifying Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi. EFCC should also spread its anti-corruption dragnet to the members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, who are dangerous rich at the expense of the people. 

We pray EFCC to investigate the allegations against Ebebi to prove to Nigerians that there are no sacred cows in the crusade against corruption. Specifically, EFCC should investigate the payments made to the companies in connection with the Master Plan and the Road projects in Bayelsa State. May we state categorically that if EFCC’s victory against corruption must be total and if EFCC must win the confidence of the people, We of Bayelsa State Transparency  Initiative are WHISTLE BLOWERS, and we have a firm belief in the EFCC and the leadership of Mrs. Farida Waziri to investigate Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi, and scrutinize his source of wealth before Bayelsa State is thrown into bankruptcy. 

Dr. Ebikebina Theophilus            Barr. Eghosa Osaro

07032185107               08027179881 
 
 

For and On Behalf of:

BAYELSA STATE TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE

CC:

The Vice President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan (GCON)

The National Chairman, PDP, Abuja

The Executive Governor of Bayelsa State Chief Timipre Sylva

The Chairman Bayelsa Elders Forum