15th March, 2016
Funsho Arogundade
Former Akwa Ibom State governor and Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio has denied ownership or any link to the Lagos Lekki Gardens where more than 30 persons died in a collapsed building.
Reacting to a Twitter flash by the SaharaReporters, an online portal, Akpabio, in a statement on Tuesday signed by Anietie Ekong, his Special Assistant on Media, described the report as malicious.
“We want to state categorically that Senator Akpabio is not the owner of Lagos Lekki Gardens nor has he any form of relationship whatsoever with the said company,” Ekong stated.
He added, “While we condole with the families of those who lost their loved ones in the unfortunate building collapse, we are saddened that Sahara Reporters could chose to play politics with such a tragic incident as the death of Nigerians and chose to drag in the name of Senator Akpabio.”
According to the senator’s aide, the allegation is coming at a time the owners of Lagos Lekki Gardens have been arraigned before a competent court of law for all Nigerians to see.
“It is not beyond the investigative capabilities of SaharaReporters to find out from the authorities of the Lagos State Government and the Corporate Affairs Commission if they still doubt the ownership of the Lagos Lekki Gardens that one petitioner against Senator Akpabio claims controls 27 estates within Lagos.
“We condemn this politically-motivated speculation linking Senator Akpabio to the ownership of Lagos Lekki Gardens. This is one in a series of falsehood that Sahara Reporters has fabricated against the Senate Minority Leader.
“Recall the national uproar which followed a similar concoction on December 10, 2015 when Sahara Reporters “authoritatively confirmed” that Senator Akpabio had been sacked from the Senate by an Appeal Court which had not even delivered its judgment at the time of the publication. It turned out to be a hoax when the election of the Senator was upheld the following day by the Appeal Court.
“We condemn this attempt by SaharaReporters to tarnish the image of a public officer and demand an unreserved apology for this false and malicious publication. We advice the promoters of SaharaReporters to jettison mischief, falsehood and fabrication and uphold the fine journalism tradition of objectivity, truth and fairness.
In the early hours of 8 March, the five-storey building which was under construction, at Chisco Bus Stop near Oando Filling Station, Lekki Phase 11, owned by Messrs Lekki Worldwide Estate, collapsed claiming 34 lives. This forced Lagos State government to arraign the managing director of the company, Richard Nyong and one of the contractors handling the project, Odofin Taiwo.
The state government has also told the occupiers of all other buildings erected by the owners of Lekki Gardens, to vacate the properties ahead of government investigations.