A former Minister of Special Duties and National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, on Tuesday, told an Abuja High court that he was ignorant of all the allegations in the charge preferred against him.
Ogbulafor, who opened his defence alongside Emeka Ebilah and Jude Nwokorie, is standing trial on a 17- count charge of conspiracy and award of fictitious contracts to the tune of N107 million.
The offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Ogbulafor, who was led in evidence by his counsel, J.K Gadzama, said he knew nothing about all the allegations raised against him.
Ogbulafor, however, admitted that he and Ebilah came from the state and town and that on his (Ogbulafor) appointment as a minister in 1999, Ebilah led a delegation to congratulate him.
He added that Ebilah later approached him, seeking an assistance to be nominated into the board of one of the federal parastatals.
Ogbulafor further stated that based on Ebilah’s request, he nominated him into the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC) where he was made the secretary of the committee.
Asked how he resigned as a minister, Ogbulafor told the court that he wrote a letter of resignation and forwarded same to the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, who acknowledged the resignation and thanked him for serving the nation dutifully.
He further added that his resignation was premised on the ground that he wanted to run for the post of the PDP National Secretary.
Asked whether he knew some of some of the companies mentioned in the alleged scam, Ogbulafor said “I don’t know.”
He, however, agreed that he collected N2 million from Ebilah after he had resigned from the office of the minister, adding that the money was a gift from Ebilah to run his campaign for the office of PDP National Secretary.
Ogbulafor also told the court that he had never at any time conspired with Ebilah to collect any amount in respect of any contract from the Federal Government, adding that he never knew how the NIEC was managed and that he was not in the capacity to receive report from the committee.
After the examination in chief, Prosecution in counsel prayed the court for an adjournment for him to take his cross examination.
He informed the court that he had another matter in another court.
Ogbulafor was supposed to open his defense on Monday but could not start due to the absence of the judge hence the need to shift it to Tuesday.
On this ground the, the trial judge, Justice Ishaq Bello adjourned the matter to June 6 for cross examination.
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