Following alleged false accusations by a contractor, DC Engineering Limited Co, a company awarded the construction of Olomi Olojuoro, Ijebu Igbo, Ita Egba road, in 2018, against member representing Oluyole federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Tolu Akande-Sadipe, the lawmaker has threatened litigation to save her reputation.
Indeed, she has vowed to take legal action against DC Engineering Ltd, saying her reputation and good intentions for the constituents of Oluyole Federal constituency and Nigeria are at stake.
Specifically she said “I request a publicly advertised retraction and apology to be published in 5 major Newspapers, otherwise I will have no choice but to sue the client and his lawyer. Only a charge and bail lawyer not a senior learned member of the bar will make such an allegation knowing Section 373 of the Nigerian Criminal code the laws of defamation of character” Akande-Sadipe said.
The lawmaker made this known on Monday while briefing journalists in Abuja.
It would be recalled that there was a mild drama in National Assembly on Friday, 8th September during an investigative public hearing, when DC Engineering company accused Hon. Akande-Sadipe and some officials of the Federal Ministry of Woks of alleged hijack of an ongoing project and inflated the price of the contract sum from N9.8 billion to N54.3 billion.
But the member representing Oluyole Federal Constituency, Hon. Akande-Sadipe has denied any relationship with the contractor handling the road project in her constituency.
Responding to what she described as alleged blackmail by DC Engineering Ltd, Akande-Sadipe said she was “thoroughly disheartened that she was being blackmailed” because she chose to be a “responsible and accountable citizen of Oluyole and Nigeria”.
Further recall that there was a letter dated 29th August 2023 written by the solicitors to DC Engineering Limited Co and OBA (King) Adesegun Alowonle, the Emure of ljebu, the person believed to be the owner of the company.
Citing the letter, Hon. Akande-Sadipe said the content was total falsehood in an attempt to steer the House committee investigating the contract away from, the true situation on ground with regards to Olojuoro, ljebu-Igbo, Ita Egba, Owonowen road in Oluyole Federal constituency and also “to deter me to stop my responsibility to the people of Oluyole Federal Constituency”.
She maintained that “This letter did not address the substance of the several petitions and motions in any way, including the most recent of 13th July 2023. Rather what they went into was to disparage my person and smear my name and engage in scandalous defamation of my character by alleging that my objective in intervening on behalf of Oluyole is to promote a particular contractor Aereatech Nigeria Limited, to the Federal Ministry of Works.
“I state categorically that I do not have any direct or indirect relationship with the said contractor, and I am not in anyway related to the said contractor, I have never introduced any such contractor.
“I have neither introduced this so called company to any Ministry of Works official” she said.
She added that as a public officer who has taken oath to be responsible to her constituency she could not close her eyes on the issue of a 45Km road awarded in 2018 to DC Engineering of which less than 1KM has been completed as at today September 2023 after collecting N2 bn out of the N9.8bn contract.
