In the wake of the condemnations raining down upon the Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Monday Igbuya, for his alleged harassment and demand for a N1 billion bribe from the Managing Director (MD) of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Mr. Williams Makinde, in return for the passage of the commission's 2016 budget, jailed former Delta State Governor, Mr. James Ibori, has brokered a peace between the commission's MD and the Assembly Speaker.
In the wake of the condemnations raining down upon the Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Monday Igbuya, for his alleged harassment and demand for a N1 billion bribe from the Managing Director (MD) of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Mr. Williams Makinde, in return for the passage of the commission's 2016 budget, jailed former Delta State Governor, Mr. James Ibori, has brokered a peace between the commission's MD and the Assembly Speaker.
Earlier this month SaharaReporters published a story that MD Makinde flew to London in order to lodge his complaints against Mr. Igbuya to the imprisoned former Governor personally. The frustrated MD threatened to resign his position as he could no longer countenance the ceaseless harassment and demands for bribes from Speaker Igbuya all of which was holding up the passage of commission’s 2016 budget.
Speaking to SaharaReporters in confidence, an aide to the MD said that former Governor Ibori was forced to broker a peace deal between Mr. Makinde and the Speaker, whom he described as among the most notoriously corrupt and fraudulent Speakers ever produced in the history of the Assembly.
"When my boss traveled to London to complain to former Governor Ibori, our overall leader in the State. The Speaker was also in the UK and Mr. Ibori summoned him. The former Governor then reconciled the two of them right there in London, before my boss [MD Makinde] returned back to Nigeria.
According to the anonymous aide, the N1 billion being demanded by Speaker Igbuya was to come from the commission’s N28 billion 2016 budget.
Part of the “peace deal” negotiated by Mr. Ibori required MD Makinde to publicly refute the stories of Speaker Igbuya’s demands for a N1 billion bribe and the constant harassment suffered by Mr. Makinde.
"Mr. Ibori called my boss and appealed to him to refute the story [regarding the bribe and harassment] and deny everything in order to disabuse the mind of the public.
“I can tell you authoritatively that my boss has since done that. He immediately instructed his media aides to do a press release which they have done," the aide stated.
Meanwhile, the embattled house of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Monday Igbuya has instructed his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr. Henry Ovie Ebireri, to organise some youths, elders, and leaders from Delta Central to hold meetings and sing Mr. Igbuya’s praises as well as to organize a staged refutal interview with the DESOPADEC MD on the story.
One of such meetings, SaharaReporters reliably learned was said to have been held in Asaba, the Delta State capital, few days ago while a stage managed refutal interview was also conducted by the speaker's CPS with the DESOPADEC MD on the story to clear the speaker of any wrongdoing.
In an email sent out to the media by CPS Ebireri, stated that notable personalities in Delta State, including leaders of ethnic and youth groupings, political parties, former council chairmen, and past political appointees on Saturday in a meeting held in Asaba, poured encomiums on Speaker Igbuya for his exemplary leadership in the State.
The Speaker's image maker also sent out his stage managed refutal interview he conducted with the DESOPADEC MD to deny the story of bribery against the speaker. The questions for the interview, which were said to have been prepared by the CPS, dwelled on the Speaker's harassment and demand for the N1 billion bribe as reported by SaharaReporters and a radio station based in Asaba.