Wed, 17/08/2011 - 12:06am

http://leadership.ng/nga/articles/3885/2011/08/17/money_laundering_danjuma_wants_sen_uzamere_prosecuted.html

Senator Daisy Danjuma has urged the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), to prosecute an Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) member of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ehigie Uzamere, for his alleged involvement in impersonation, bribery, corruption and money laundering.

In a petition dated July 26, 2011 and addressed to the AGF, Senator Danjuma further alleged that Senator Uzamere had been referring to himself as an ‘architect’ when he had no qualification to that effect.

According to the petitioner, in spite of the fact that Senator Uzamere is not a registered member of the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria, he has continued to make use of the title of ‘Arc’.

The petition, which was made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday, was also copied to the Senate president, Senator David Mark, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri and the registrar, Architects Registration Council of Nigeria.

Senator Danjuma further drew the attention of the AGF to the fact that the regulatory body of architects had disowned Senator Uzamere in a letter dated May 25, 2011 and confirmed that, “We did not have the name of Mr. Ehige Uzamere in our register of architects entitled to practice in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is therefore not entitled to use the appellation ‘Arc’ as provided by the Architects (Registration etc) Act Cap A19 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.”

She further urged the AGF to note that the ACN senator had flouted the provision of section 14 of the Architects (Registration etc) Act and should be prosecuted accordingly.

On the issue of bribery, corruption and money laundering, the petitioner urged the AGF to take judicial notice of the fact that Senator Uzamere and his firms were mentioned in the course of prosecution of certain persons for money laundering offences against the laws of England.

The petition reads in part, ‘In the course of those proceedings, it became apparent that Senator Uzamere and the said companies had been engaged in the distribution of bribes and related offences. While other persons who were implicated in the charge have since been convicted and had their assets seized by both the Nigerian and English courts, Senator Uzamere, on the contrary, in spite of being a central character in the bribery and corruption of public officials, instead of having his assets confiscated and he himself imprisoned, has been allegedly promoted into the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

‘The Engilsh courts must look down on us that in spite of their own findings, that he not only continues to walk our streets a free man, but is branded a senator of the Federal Republic .‘

Senator Danjuma also attached the letter from the architects’ regulatory body and a copy of the judgement of the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division and Royal Court of Justice Strand London, dated December 3, 2007 as an annexure, to justify her claim.

Asking the AGF to take necessary action on her petition, Senator Danjuma said, “My purpose in this letter, therefore, is to appeal to you to set in motion processes to prosecute Senator Uzamere for offences which he himself has admitted in several statements to various law enforcement agents and which have been the subjects of adverse comments by foreign courts. It is my conviction and my hope that in the spirit of the rule of law, which is now taking root in the country, you will take a stand which will be a pointer to others like Senator Uzamere that crimes will no longer go unpunished in the country.”