With a tinge of regret in his voice, Mr. Nwokorie Samuel Chinedu,ย the lawyerย who filedย the applicationย with the Independent Nationalย Electoral Commissionย (INEC) for the registration of the controversial African Peoples Congress (APC), has spoken of his role in the row.
Nwokorie, who spoke with our correspondent from his hideout in Abuja Wednesday night, said he was hired by Ugochinyere Ikenga sometime in February to fileย the applicationย โ an action which has kept leaders of merging parties battling to defend their emerging partyโs identity.
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Congres for Progressive Change (CPC) have merged to form the All Progressives Party (APC). The proxy โAPCโ is believed to be an attempt to throw a spanner in the works for the real APC.
According toย the lawyer, Ikenga paid him N30, 000 before he filed the papers. The โclientโ paid him N50, 000 later and gave him aย Samsung Galaxy phoneย after the job had been done.
Nwokorie said he took the brief as a young lawyer eager to earn a living without any inkling of what Ikenga had in mind. He added that Ikenga told him that he was acting on behalf of the promoters of the party.
His words: โUgochinyere Ikenga approached me sometime in February 2013 to put in an application for the registration of a political party by name African Peoples Congress.
โHe paid me an initial sum of N30,000 and later added another N50,000 and aย Samsung Galaxy phoneย after I had filed the papers, withย a promiseย that he was going to settle me after the party must have been registered.
โI filedย the applicationย in the honest belief that it was just another political party because evenย the applicationย I entered at INEC only bears the name African Peoples Congress. The acronym APC was not included inย the application.
โSo there was no way I could have visualize, whether or not there was an ulterior motive in the registration of that political party. I was, however, surprised to see my name all over the newspapers, including the a sample ofย the applicationย letter I wrote to INEC.
โI wish to let Nigerians know that I am not a politician in anyway whatsoever. I regret the issues at hand andย the dimensionย the entire thing is taking.โ
Asked to explain the discrepancy in the office address inย the applicationย and his real address, Nwokorie said the address was correct.
According to him, aย friendย of his works in one of the two law chambers in the address.
โI used the address because aย friendย of mine (a lawyer) works in one of the two chambers. But thatย friendย does not wish to be dragged into this matter because of the uproar.
โLegal World Chambers with which I filedย the applicationย is duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). I personally registered the firm. But if anyone has any doubts, let them check it out with the CAC.
โSome people are even doubting whether I am a lawyer or not. I challenge them to go to the Supreme Court and check the roll to see whether or not my name is there.โ
Nwokorie said he did his first degreeย programmeย at Buea University in Cameroun. He did NYSC in Abuja in 2005/2006 after which he proceeded to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) where he got a Masterโs degree in International Law and Diplomacy.
According to him, he attended the Law School, Bwari, Abuja and was called to the Bar on February 14, 2011.
The obviously-frightened Nwokorie said he was forced to switch off his phones because he was bombarded with calls.
โI am not happy about the unfolding event because I did notย bargainย for it, especially as I have been receiving calls from unknown persons and my present boss, whose identity I would not want to reveal for now, is not happy with me. My family is also worried and apprehensive about the entire thing,โ Nwokorie said.
Meanwhile, Ikenga has kept telling Nwokorie that he should not bother himself about the heat generated by the action, assuring him that the sponsors ofย the applicationย would handle the matter.
Saidย the lawyer: โHe keeps telling me not to worry, that I should be a man and that he would handle the matter. He also said that the real owners of the party would soon be revealed to Nigerians.
โOnce again, I want to tell Nigerians that I just took a brief as a young lawyer and it ended there. I donโt know the sponsors of the party. The only person I know is Ugochinyere Ikenga, who gave me the brief.
โI got to know Ikenga through aย friend. I thought it wise to come out and tell Nigerians the entire story because I keep receiving calls all-day through. My major concern now is my letter head, which is in the custody of INEC.
โMy family has askedย me toย hands off the matter, which is the reason I have come out in the open,โ Nwokorie stated.
When our correspondent called Ikenga on his telephone number provided by Nwokorie, he promised to call our correspondent back and cut the line off. He never did.
Source: The Nation
