Edo ex-speaker returns 3 SUVs, PDP insists she must return all or face prosecution

The Edo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted that a former speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mrs Elizabeth Ativie, who allegedly converted four official SUVs to personal use return all of them or face prosecution.

The party stated that it gathered that the former speaker had returned three of the vehicles after its petition to the ICOC and EFCC, but insisted that she returns the last one as well, or face being dragged to court.

Recall that the party had raised the alarm, accusing Mrs Ativie of claiming that the former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, had gifted her the four SUVs, two Hilux van, one Lexus jeep and one Toyota Prado jeep, which were her official vehicles for stepping down as Speaker.
However, Chris Osa Nehikhare, state publicity secretary of the PDP in a statement on Wednesday, lamented that “In our democracy, some of our Governors and elected representatives have stretched their powers beyond the laws of our land.

“In Edo state, this notoriety was taken to a dangerous unacceptable level by the immediate past governor Adams Aliu Eric Oshiomhole who behaved as if he was an emperor and willfully signed away state assets as if they were his personal assets.

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“You will recall that Edo PDP wrote a petition to ICPC and EFCC regarding the criminal conversion of government vehicles to personal acquisition by Hon E. Ativie. This prompted us to instruct our lawyers to seek an order of Mandamus from a competent court of law, if ICPC and EFCC fails to investigate and act on the petitions within seven working days from the receipt of the petition.

“We are informed that arising from the petition of our lawyers and realising the unpalatable implication of what will befall those involved in this shameless illegal acquisition of government vehicles, Hon Elizabeth Ativie has returned three of the four vehicles back to the state, with the lame excuse that she is trying to get in touch with the buyer of the one she allegedly sold. However, from her letter to EDHA, Hon Elizabeth Ativie has admitted conversion of government property which in itself is damning!

“Bearing in mind our Thursday deadline for ICPC and Friday for EFCC. We wish to state that, if she returns the vehicle before the deadlines elapse, we will instruct our lawyers to withdraw the petitions. However, if she doesn’t, we will have no other option but to pursue the legal option.

“Our concern has always been that Government and Edo people do not suffer loss by the irresponsible act of the people elected to protect and defend them.

While we await her action to return the vehicle, we appreciate the wonderful support our efforts enjoyed from Edo people. We sincerely hope that the lesson learnt from this action will impact positively on our democratic culture and humble the Edo APC government from future fraudulent acts”, he stated.

 

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