CEM REPORT | The Paris Club Refund saga has continued to yield more controversy. The lead consultant of the Paris Club refund, Ned Nwoko, has demanded $40 million as compensation for the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) over their recent publications.
Nwoko termed the publication as “false, untrue and concocted stories about him without any attempt to verify, “and threatened to sue the forum.
Nwoko who made his demands known in a letter to the NGF on Sunday also demanded an “unqualified apology” to be published in national newspapers and online media.
He accused the Forum of attempting to damage his reputation, by casting him as a devious, manipulative, dishonest and fraudulent person of questionable character and attempted to abuse the minds of the public by its refusal to pay the consultancy fees.
Especially, Nwoko accused the NGF of lying about his status with the U.K Law Society.
‘It is curious that in the introduction of himself, Mr Nwoko said nothing about his current status with the UK Law Society and the widely held belief that he was disbarred for fraudulent activities.’”
He noted that he has “never been disbarred from legal practice in the UK.”
“Attached to the letter were Mr Nwoko’s Practising Certificate for the years 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority – the regulator of solicitors and law firms in England and Wales,”
“…Till date, our client is proudly and happily in touch with his legal roots in Britain. He has his annual practising certificates as a British lawyer. They don’t issue practising certificates to anyone debarred from practice,” the letter said.
He, therefore, demanded that the NGF:
“1. Publish in two national newspapers as well as in your online news media — statements retracting the libellous publications of 21st August 2022 with an unqualified apology within 48 hours from the receipt of the letter.
“2. Pay the sum of $40,000,000 (forty million United States dollars) as compensation for the malicious, false and disparaging publications.”
Recall that Nwoko who is the lead consultant for the recovery of over deductions from Paris and London clubs’ debt buyback funds had issued a statement saying the governor received $100 million to prosecute elections in some states.
He noted that the sum owed was $68 million and not $418 million as stated by the NGF.
The NGF in another statement claimed Nwoko’s statement was filled with half-truths and further accused the Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, of working for the consultants and not the country.
Read details of Ned Nwoko statement and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum statement
