Hon. Hon.DCN. Chike Okafor
By Joan Okoro
ABUJA/Nigeria: The member representing the people of Okigwe South Federal Constituency, of Imo State, Hon.DCN. Chike Okafor has been accused of reneging in a business agreement worth about N7 million naira, as he had constantly shifted the date of payment to one Mr Nwaodu Lawrence Chukwuemeka, who published for over 4 months a 26 full page publications on his personal profile, programmes and activities on national print newspapers, of Businesday and Daily times and two online papers, www.govandbusinessjournal.com.ng and www.newsexpressngr.com
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Narrating his ordeal in a mail, and titled Hon. DCN. Chike Okafor sends me out of his office at the national assembly with a band of 8 armed policemen to www.ndokwareporters.com, Mr Nwaodu Lawrence Chukwuemeka, said that on Thursday October 19, 2017, he visited the office of Hon Okofar, where his Aides told him he will be paid, he however insisted on seeing him, and possibly get a written and signed agreement before he will leave the premises of the National Assembly.
According to Mr Nwaodu, Hon DCN Chike Okafor, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Health Matters, rather ordered he be forcefully taken out of the National Assembly by 8 armed policemen.
“Thursday the 19th of October 2017 being the visiting day at the Office of the Member, House of Representatives, representing Okigwe South Federal Constituency (comprising of Obowo, Ihitte-Uboma and Ehime-Mbano LGAs), I was sent out of the office and the entire premises of the national assembly by the instructions of the honourable member (Deacon Chike Okafor, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Health Matters), because I insisted on seeing him in person after having been in Abuja for 4 months just for the purposes of getting to see him to be paid the money that he is owing me”. He said.
According to him, the said amount of money had been a transaction for close to ten months, but he had been elusive as he hardly replies his calls or short messages.
“He owes me the sum of 7 million Naira for some transactions and have been promising to pay, which after a while I had to come to Abuja to see him in person and not to be dealing with him through any PA, but he has been elusive and inaccessible, that I had to insist today on meeting him personally and as I will not be satisfied with any information from his PA’s”.
He said things got out of hands when he refused to listen to the Personal Assistant one Mr Vitus Okonkwo and the Senior Legislative Assistant, Mr Mathew Ogu, who insisted that they had discussed with the Honourable member, and had resolved to pay him in a week time, which he insisted must be put on paper, but they refused.
“But his PA Vitus and his SLA (Senior Legislative Assist) Mattew Ogu – insisted that I should go without seeing Chike Okafor, that they have discussed the issue and have resolved to pay me in a week time, but when I asked for it to be put in writing, they backed out. Then I knew they weren’t sincere and I insisted on staying back in the office to see the honourable. It was then they put a call through to Chike Okafor who instructed them to call in the police to use force and brute to get me out of their office and the entire premises”.
“This is a debt of about 10 months now, that I had to leave my work, family and everything in Lagos to come to Abuja in order to meet him so that I can be paid, but he has been dodging and evading me since, but has been promising through his PAs to pay up almost every other week, but it is now 4 months that I have been in Abuja just to see him and yet he won’t let anybody meet him in the office, neither does he pick his calls or respond to his SMS.”
“The debt is not in contention, at least they were all begging me to go home today, that I will be paid in a week or so, but they weren’t specific and didn’t want to commit to putting it in writing, hence I didn’t trust them, and that’s why I stayed back and insisted in seeing Deacon Chike Okafor himself, but I was shocked to see that they invited armed policemen to walk me out of their office and the entire national assembly premises.”
“I am in shock and total disarray, I can’t believe that a representative will chase someone out of his office and the entire national assembly to evade debt payment. I mean to implore the use of brute force on a helpless constituent just to avoid paying for debt owed, because you believe you are in better advantage and that the said constituent cannot do you anything.”
“A full page in a paper like businesday is much more than that price, but we still charged as low as N270,000 per full page because we were doing bulk work and we still discounted our own intellectual and professional fees, and is only asking for N270,000 per page and yet he has been playing on me for over 7 months now, and I have been in Abuja personally for about 4 months now for this purpose alone”.
The work according to Nwaodu was mainly a Public Relations job, which would have led to his appearance on both Television and Radio.
“It was purely PR job that we were doing for him. Editors, graphic artists, transcription were done for more than two hours in each occasion. We made a pure gloss personalised magazine, a book on him, sticker and many others, all for public presentation and create a strong brand on intellectualism for him to use to mount on popularity to any political office”. He concluded.
Meanwhile a telephone call to the mobile line of Hon DCN. Chike Okafor to verify the allegation was not successful, as his line was constantly engaged, he did not also reply the SMS sent to his line, or whassap message sent to him. His Senior Legislative Aide, Mr Mathew Ogu, who returned our SMS, simply said “No such thing happened to the best of my knowledge”.
Mr Ogu who later talked with Ndokwa Reporters, said such a thing did not happened and that he is not aware of any business transaction, between his boss, and Mr Nwaodu Lawrence Chukwuemeka, as he was also not privilege to the action against him using armed policemen.
The situation as it is now is that Mr Nwaodu Lawrence Chukwuemeka is begging for him to be paid, so he can settle the news organisations, editors, graphic men that were involved in the various stages of productions and publications.
