N40bn Court deduction order: Handiwork of mischievous element-Ebonyi Govt

From Nwogha Ndubuisi, Abakaliki

Ebonyi State government has described as mischievous the claims that warranted a court declaration for the deduction of 40 billion Naira from State allocation account to Andrew Bishopton Nig.LTD over claim of breach of contract. The state Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Barr. Uchenna Orji, made this known on Wednesday at the Old Government House, while briefing newsmen in Abakaliki. Orji who described as untrue the claims of the firm whose name was given as Andrew Bishopton Nig. Ltd and its partners, Mauritz Walton Nig Ltd that they have secured a Court order against the State Government that Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN, should deduct the said sum of 40bn from Government Allocation Account.

Recall that Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt dated November,2 has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to commence the deduction of over N40billion from the Federal Allocation Account for Ebonyi state government and remittance of same to the consulting firm. Also recall was that the court ruled that the state government should pay the firm, Andrew Bishopton Nig. Ltd and its partners, Mauritz Walton Nig Ltd, the sum of N118,787,380.00 and other sums for failing to keep to the terms of the contract agreement,it entered with the latter. According to the Information Commissioner, the firm was only up for mischief against the State Government having severally testified that the Government was not indebted to them previously. Part of thehe briefing read: “The attention of Ebonyi State Government has been drawn to a trending publication credited to one firm known as and called Andrew Bishopton Nig. Limited and its partners, Mauritz Walton Nig Ltd claiming that they got order of the Court to garnish the accounts of Ebonyi State Government. “The general public is enjoined to discountenance the claims, thereof, as shenanigans of unscrupulous elements who are on a forum shopping over a clearly and notoriously baseless allegation of performing consultancy services for the Government of Ebonyi, and please discard their claims as vaulting ambitions of greedy people who are on fruitless enterprise and wild-goose chase looking undeservedly for funds meant for the development of Ebonyi State. It added, “The State Government had in different communications extracted confessions from the representatives of Andrew Bishopton Nig Limited to the effect that the said company and its partners acted in bad faith and had no contractual basis to make claims against the State Government and or the Local Government Councils in the State in respect of any transaction executed or services rendered whatsoever for or on behalf of the State Government and or Local Government Councils.” The Information Commissioner enjoined the public to discountenance the claims of the firm as a mere figment of their self aggrandizing imagination.