By Uche Ihediwa

On 14/2/26, Chidi Anselem Odinkalu posted an article captioned “Fraudsters-In-Law; The Conspiracy Against Abia State”. In it, he fed the reading public with odious diatribe of and concerning Uche Ihediwa & Chibuzo Aguocha. He claimed inter-alia that the A.G. of Abia State failed to prosecute Paris Refund Criminals despite a suggestion/opinion to that effect by Odetoyinbo J. (as he then was). He equally claimed that Uche Ihediwa entered into a consent judgment with them wherein 5% of their fee was to be paid to his man – Friday, Chibuzo Aguocha, for his benefit. I have tremendous respect for Odinkalu and his perceived moral crusade, but in this instance he obviously goofed and went off the mark.

His write up was not fact- checked in line with golden principle of journalism and I think the proper thing to do is to place facts on both sides of the divide and draw his conclusion while allowing the public to draw theirs too. As a Professor of Law, he woefully failed to give us a fair hearing despite the fact that he could have contacted the relevant parties whose names may be tainted knowingly or unknowingly by his article, unless he set out to do a hatchet job.Unlike Odinkalu, I will be mindful of the fact that the matter is sub-judice and refrain from a media retrial.

In 2012, the Govt. of Abia State led by Sen, T. A. Orji entered into two (2) contracts with Ziplon Concept to recover its share of Paris Refund from the Federal Govt. The 1st contract put the consultancy fees at 15% and 1% of the recovered sum was to be paid to Min. of Justice. The 2nd contract put the consultancy fee at 24%.

That Govt. also entered into another recovery contract over Paris Refund with Mauritz Walton. The Governors Forum equally entered into a contract with Ned Nwoko for the same purpose. In 2018, the Government of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu entered into a contract with Zilcon Higgs Int. Ltd. to recover money from the Federal Govt.

In 2017, Fed. Govt. paid Abia N16,347,000,000 and these contractors separately claimed to be instrumental to the recovery of the said sum. Four of them dragged Abia State to Court. Ned Nwoko later withdrew. For clarity, I shall deal with these cases and that by Zilcon Higgs Int. Ltd. seriatim.

1. SUIT NO. – FCT/HC/2470/2017 between MAURITZ WALTON NIG. LTD. v. ABIA STATE GOVT.

This company filed this case to recover its fees at same FCT High Court. It proceeded at a frenetic speed. When Uche Ihediwa SAN became the Att.-Gen. in June, 2019, he strenuously fought an obvious attempt by Mauritz Walton to get judgment against the State in this case. It is important to note that the F.C.T. High Court foreclosed the Defence of the Defendants and adjourned for adoption of Claimant’s Written Address. Ihediwa rushed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division with an Application to Stay Proceedings that was granted. For this obstruction, Mauritz Walton wrote the petition referred to by Odinkalu but withdrew same by a letter to the Governor dated 8/12/23 which Odinkalu suppressed in his diatribe.

2. SUIT NO. – FCT/HC/CV/0175/2017 between ZIPLON CONCEPT v. GOVT. OF ABIA STATE & 2 ORS.

Maurice Walton filed an application to be joined as a party in this suit. In refusing the application, Odetoyingbo J (as he then was) opined obiter that when four people claim to have done the same job, then there is an obvious crime. He advised Abia State to report the matter to the Police. The Attorney General then reviewed that advice and took a decision in the best interest of the State. Under my watch, the issue of who recovered what, was investigated by EFCC Enugu. Mauritz Walton and Ziplon can confirm that fact.

While this matter was in Court, the Govt. of Abia State paid N100,000,000.00 to the Company as part-payment of the debt – without the knowledge of the Attorney General at that time. In law, this part payment was an admission of debt irrespective of the State’s claim that it was paid under a mistake of fact.

The Company subsequently approached the State Govt. with a new proposal. That Company retained the professional services of Chibuzo Aguocha Esq. and not Abia State as alleged by Odinkalu (see Letter from Ziplon to Chibuzo Aguocha dated 8/11/22). Odinkalu is challenged to produce letter of instruction from Govt. to Chibuzo Aguocha. Ziplon informed Govt. that they will RECOVER more funds for Abia State. They wanted Govt. to agree to pay them the balance of what they were owed on the Paris Refund together with their fee on the new recovery.

After the negotiation, the Governor of Abia State approved the proposal (see letter dated 26/8/22). The parties then entered into the consent judgment with Ziplon Concept Nig. Ltd. The agreement provided that if Ziplon Concept RECOVERS any other money, they were to be paid the owed N3,923,301,694.19 as “agreed consultancy fees…subject to the terms below”.

“The terms which Odinkalu deliberately mischaracterised as retention fees were that the sum of N830,000,000.00 and about $5.7m should be deducted from their fee to offset the claim of Mauritz Walton if he succeeds in Court. The Govt was also expected to contribute the same sums. 5% of their fee was to be paid to Chibuzo Aguocha who they retained.

THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

The million-dollar question that should worry Odinkalu is WHETHER ZIPLON CONCEPT LTD. has RECOVERED any money to warrant a recourse to the Terms of Settlement.” The answer is a resounding NO.

A CLEAR DENIAL

Ziplon did NOT pay a dime to me for the four years I served as Attorney General. Odinkalu or anyone is challenged to prove the contrary.
Odinkalu’s assertion that Ziplon had me in their pocket is strenuously challenged.

SUIT NO. – FHC/ABJ/CS/686/2022 between (1) GOVT. OF ABIA STATE (2) ZILCON HIGGS INT. LTD. v. RMAFC & 2 ORS.

The records show that on 26/5/18, the Govt. of Abia State also entered into a recovery contract with this Company. They recovered N8,173,397,587.14 and took their commission upfront. They now sought to garnish Abia State Govt. Account for the money owed to Ziplon (as stated in 3 above). They contend that Zilcon Higgs Int. Ltd. is a PARTNER/CONSORTIUM of Ziplon as provided in clause 3 of the consent judgment. The Court would have to resolve whether Zilcon Higgs Int. Ltd. is a partner and or in consortium with Ziplon having regard to the meaning of both concepts.

I shall not venture further because unlike Odinkalu, I know that matters that are sub-judice should not be discussed in the media.

CONCLUSION

1, Uche Ihediwa as Attorney General of Abia State did not allow a kobo to be paid to Ziplon, Mauritz Walton or anybody who claimed to recover any money for Abia State in his time as Att. Gen. i.e. 2019 to 2023. He did not receive any money from them. He was authorised to enter into the terms of settlement which was then considered in the best interest of the State.

CHIBUZO AGUOCHA

Chibuzo Aguocha acted as Attorney to Ziplon in the negotiation and his fee is to be deducted from Ziplon fees if it materialises. He did not act as a front to Mr. Ihediwa as unfortunately alleged by Odinkalu.

2. No money has been paid to Ziplon on account of the consent judgment and cannot be paid on account of a recovery of money by ZILCON HIGGS INT. LTD. Odinkalu’s and the lawyers should study the meaning of PARTNER and Consortium in Company Law and fight to protect Abia money

WHAT ODINKALU DID NOT SEE

Chidi Odinkalu saw a petition by Mauritz Walton to Governor. of Abia State. He did not see the retraction and withdrawal of that petition dated 8/12/23 by Mauritz Walton.

3. It is unfortunate that our names are being destroyed and maligned without giving us an opportunity to be heard.

NO FAIR HEARING, NO FACT- CHECKING

Where is the doctrine of fair hearing before this odious diatribe. This reaction shows he did not even fact – check his information.

4. I remain ready to face any compliant made against me at any fora. I will leave him to his conscience. His piece adds to the list of hot air articles he has authored. People now gloss over his piece because they are at times factually incorrect.

▪️ Chief Uche C. Ihediwa SAN was a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Abia State.

The views expressed in this article are entirely those of the author and do not represent the opinion of CITY LAWYER Magazine, its publishers or proxies

(C) CITY LAWYER Magazine. All rights reserved. To join our Channel, click here. Click here to join our WhatsApp chatroom. Contact us at citylawyermag@gmail.com or 081-3838-0083.