Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, immediate past SGF
has dragged Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, the National
Vice-Chairman (South-South) of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) before an Abuja High
Court, claiming the sum of One Billion Naira as
general, aggravated, punitive and exemplary
damages over publicatons and interviews granted
by Ojougboh in which he alleged that the
Centenary City Project is a scam by Anyim.
It will be recalled that in an interview granted by
Ojougboh and published on page 3 of the Daily
Trust Newspaper of July 13, 2015, titled
“Jonathan’s Centenary City is Crime Personified”.
Ojougboh said “the Centenary City built during
President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration
was a blueprint for corruption…” Ojougboh went
further to say “Somebody within that office called
the SGF, had the impunity to tell Nigerians lies
that the Centenary City is a Public Private
Partnership arrangement, I mean it is a lie. In
fact, huge chunk of land was given to only one
man and it didn’t stop there. He now went to
incorporate the entity as a free zone. Where have
you ever seen it in this world? It is crime
personified.
In another story published on page 15 of Thisday
newspaper of July 18, 2015, Ojougboh alleged
that Anyim was threatening his life for blowing
the whistle on the corruption and fraud involving
Sen. Anyim in the Abuja Centenary City Project. In
the story captioned
“Ojougboh Alleges Ex-SGF Anyim Threatening His
Life”. Ojougboh alleged that he “discovered
multiple instances of corruption and fraud which
were brought to his attention via petitions written
by various anti-corruption NGO’s and in particular
the Nigerian Women Against Corruption regarding
the Centenary City Project having been an
elaborate scamperpetrated by Senator Anyim
Pius Anyim, the former Secretary to the
Government of the Federation.” Ojougboh further
alleged that he was forcefully removed from office
as Chairman of the Board of Nigerian Export
Processing Zone Authority, NEPZA by Ex-SGF,
Anyim for unravelling the allegation of fraud
levelled against him. Ojougbo was quoted to have
shown to a group of journalists copy of a petition
he sent to the Inspector General of Police, IG Mr
Solomon Arase titled “Letter of Complaint to
threat of life, intimidation, blackmail by Senator
Anyim Pius Anyim”
In the suit filed on the 7th of August, 2015 by
Mike Ozekhome’s Chambers (Legal practitioners
and notary public) on behalf of Sen. Anyim, the
Ex-SGF is contending that the publications are
false, unfounded, baseless
and constitute a figment of Cairo Ojougboh’s
warped imagination which are calculated to bring
him to great disrepute and lower him in the
estimation of right thinking and reasonable
members of the public. Anyim further avers that
the stories were maliciously concocted to
frustrate the Centenary City Project, and in
particular, to scare away foreign partners as well
as incite the investors and management of the
Centenary City Project against him and lower him
in their eyes. Anyim is seeking, among other
things, an order of the court directing the
defendant(Cairo Ojougboh) to pay him the sum of
₦1b as general, aggravated, punitive and
exemplary damages over the embarrassment,
public odium, derision, ridicle, obloquy, mental
agony and psychological trauma which
Ojougboh’s publications have caused him.
No date has been fixed for hearing the case as he
courts are yet to resume from vacation.
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