The lawmaker representing Patani/Bomadi Constituency, Delta State, in the House of Representatives, Hon. Nicholas Mutu, says his political enemies have marked him out for blackmail and behind his alleged forged school certificates.
Reacting to a publication (Not Tribune Online) alleging that his school certificates were forged, Mutu said the publication was made in bad faith with the intention to blackmail and misinform the public.
Mutu, who issued his reaction on Tuesday in Bomadi, through his Special Adviser on Legal Matters, Mr Ebitimi Ogbomah, further alleged that the publication originated from his political opponent who had contested with him in the 2019 general elections but lost.
He urged the public to ignore the publication, describing it as a cheap blackmail from political detractors.
“My attention has been drawn to a publication by The Pilot Newspaper on its front page of 22nd May, 2023, titled Certificate Scandal Rocks NASS. It’s obvious that the publication was made in bad faith, with the intention to blackmail, defame and misinform the general public.
“The said publication was originated by my political opponent who contested against me in the 2019 National Assembly Elections for Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency, and who contested again in the just-concluded general elections and lost.
“On the issue of certificate, I expected the publisher of The Pilot Newspaper, Mr. Dennis Sami, who has taken this matter personal, to have written to the relevant schools, get a response and show to the public where it was stated by the schools that the certificates of Hon. Mutu Nicholas were fake or forged.
“Rather, Mr Sami hurriedly rushed to press failing to show professionalism in his reportage. I’m still expecting him to do the needful. I also expected these people to write to INEC to get a CTC and display same for the public to see.
“On my national assembly profiling, I equally expected them to write to the Assembly to get a response rather than relying on the Lawmaker Magazine because it does not do the profiling of National Assembly members.
“The National Assembly does the profiling of its members and it is the custodian of these records of profiled members from 1999 to date.
“The said Lawmaker magazine, the Pilot Newspaper and Collins Eselemo are relying on what was published when I was not yet an elected member of the House of Representatives.
“I took my opponent, Mr. Franklin Edonkumoh, who was declared winner in 1999, to court and the court ordered a re-run and I won.
“I came to the National Assembly about six months after the profiling of the National Assembly members by the Lawmaker Magazine, which had already been made and the magazine published.
“On the issue of St. Clements University Certificate, it’s my advice to the Pilot Newspaper and her Publisher and any other person willing to know the truth, that a simple Google search will provide them with any information they need.
“It is also worthy of note that we have a letter from the Rivers State School of Basic Studies now Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, where the school acknowledged the genuineness of my certificate and also attached in its letter is the WAEC master list. We equally have court judgements, police reports and documents from the National Assembly.
“The Federal High Court had also adjudicated on the issue of certificate forgery and had dismissed the same on the merit, leading to res judicata and action in rem that binds the whole world.
“Furthermore, the Nigerian Police Force had cause to investigate these same allegations and came up with a report which revealed that there was no such forgery or impersonation or any of the allegations involving criminality and the police in their report also recommended the prosecution of the elements that brought the said petition.
“On the other hand, the National Assembly had also done its independent investigations and written to clear Hon. Mutu on the issue of impersonation.
“Suffice to say here that, all these documents mentioned above were made available to the Publisher of Pilot newspaper, Mr. Sami, who has refused to look at them.
“It’s clear that the Pilot newspaper did not do its due diligence on Hon. Mutu’s Certificates and the other allegations. They just took the fake documents being paraded around by Collins Eselemo from one media house to the other with the intention to defame and blackmail Hon. Mutu.
“This has been the mission of Collins Eselemo since 2018, who had paraded these same fake documents before the tribunal, the security agencies, my constituents and even the Federal High Court and has failed to prove any of the allegations. He has now employed the services of Mr. Sami as his partner in the blackmailing business.
“The public should disregard this blackmail and be rest assured that we’re going to take appropriate legal actions before a court of competent jurisdiction to ask for special, general and punitive damages against Mr. Sami and the Pilot newspaper,” the statement read.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
