AKPABIO-BACKED APC CHAIRMAN SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH FORGERY SAYS POLICE REPORT

A police investigation has confirmed that Stephen Ntukekpo, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), used forged documents to obtain a court judgement which paved the way for him to be sworn in as the APC chairman in Akwa Ibom State.

A piece of legal advice from the police, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, on Monday in Abuja, recommended that Mr Ntukekpo be charged to court for forgery and impersonation.

“From the facts and available evidence in the case file, we are of the considered opinion that a prima facie case of impersonation and forgery has been established against the suspect, Stephen Leo Ntukekpo and therefore advised that the suspect be charged to court accordingly,” said a memo from the Legal and Prosecution Section, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Force Headquarters, Abuja.

The memo, dated July 4, 2022, and titled Legal Advice, was sent to the office of the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the FCID.

It was signed by Ochogwu Ogbeh, a deputy commissioner of police, who heads the Legal and Prosecution Section at the force headquarters.

The police investigation was prompted by a complaint of forgery from a chieftain of the APC, Sheriff Banki, who chaired the APC committee which conducted the party state congress in Akwa Ibom State last year.

Another person, Austin Ekanem, who took part in the congress, was elected the chairman of the APC in Akwa Ibom, and not Mr Ntukekpo.

Mr Banki was shocked and angry when he learnt his signature was forged and Mr Ekanem, the man who was elected the APC chairman in Akwa Ibom, was replaced with Mr Ntukekpo.

Mr Ntukekpo is backed by a former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, who has the support of the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, and the National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore.

The APC national chairman, Mr Adamu, swore in Mr Ntukekpo as the APC chairman in Akwa Ibom at Abuja in April, 2022, despite a contrary order by the Court of Appeal, Abuja.

The Appeal Court on April 7 directed all the parties in the case “to maintain the status quo” pending the determination of the case, but Mr Adamu hurriedly swore in Mr Ntukekpo on April 11, about 72 hours after the court order.

The APC, however, fraudulently backdated to March 26, Mr Ntukekpo’s oath of office, to avoid the party being seen as violating an order of the court, according to documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

The forgery in APC and the multiple court cases that followed threw the party in Akwa Ibom into a complicated crisis which has made it incapable of producing a governorship candidate till now in the state for the 2023 elections.

The crisis has also truncated Mr Akpabio’s ambition to return to the Senate next year.

The police recommendation that Mr Ntukekpo should be charged for forgery and impersonation has confirmed the previous reporting on the matter by PREMIUM TIMES.

It has also vindicated the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, Mike Igini, who some of the APC leaders in the state have been accusing, without proof, of being responsible for the party crisis in the state.

Ntukekpo’s reaction
PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach Mr Ntukekpo for his comment, as he did not respond to calls from our reporter.

But the APC chairman, in a previous interview with PREMIUM TIMES, had admitted that the police invited him for questioning over the forgery case.

Mr Ntukekpo was not categorical about whether the result sheets he presented to the court were forged or not.

“I wasn’t the author, I didn’t manufacture, I didn’t produce in any form or fashion the so-called result sheet of the congress. I was only an aspirant,” he said in a response to a question from PREMIUM TIMES.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/543444-breaking-akpabio-backed-apc-chairman-should-be-charged-for-forgery-police-report.html