The Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance (CCSGG) has condemned in its entirety the hasty and ill-motivated indictment of Barr. Allen Onyema, the Chairman Air Peace Nigeria for fraud and money laundering by the United State Department of Justic.
Rather, it called for a joint investigation between the Unite State Justice Department and their Nigeria counterparts to verify the authenticity of the purported allegation.
The group in a statement by the Convener, Comrade, Kasali A. Omotayo, on Wednesday in Abuja, said the group viewed the allegations as an organised conspiracy by his business rivals in Nigeria and their international collaborators to rubbish Onyema’s image and to undermine his businesses.
He said there were basis to query the sudden indictment of a Nigerian who has been doing business for decades in the United State and has never been charged for any fraud except for the later, adding that the attempt to tarnish his image heaves fundamental questions of concern.
“We have been following and we will continue to follow with keen interest the conflicting narratives coming out of the United States regarding the purported indictment of one of Nigeria’s foremost generous donor.
“As the Conscience of society and promoter of Good Governance in Nigeria, we recognize the concern of the United State Justice Department stand on this matter. But in as much as we appreciate the involvement of Judiciary through the United State Department of Justice which has equally stated that the indictment only contained charges and the accused remain innocent until proven otherwise by the court. An indictment is not a conviction until proven by a law court.
“We see this as organized conspiracy by his business rivals in Nigeria and their international collaborators to rubbish Mr. Allen Onyema image and to undermine his businesses. We call for a joint investigation between the Unite State Justice Department and their Nigeria counterparts to verify the authenticity of this purported allegation of fraud and Money laundering,” he said.
Omotayo said call on the Nigerian Government to do all it could to unravel the motives behind thie media trial of onyema and protect him against the calculated attempt to tarnish the image of Nigeria and run down Nigerian businesses that has continued to make global impact.
“From our independent findings, It is on record his numerous investments in Nigeria have been obliging not only as windows of job opportunities for Nigerians from diverse backgrounds but his philanthropic gesture is seen as a classical example of excellence and humanitarian service via Corporate Social Responsibility and genuine care for the citizenry,” he said
