Obono-Obla to drag former activist to court over allegations of ‘malicious falsehood and defamation’

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Abang Ogon (L), Okoi Obono-Obla (R) 
Efio-Ita Nyok|14 January 2017
Yakurr, Cross River-born human rights activist and legal practitioner, Chief Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla has indicated his intention to drag a former student activist of Ogoja LGA, Abang Ogon, to court over allegations of malicious falsehood and defamation.
On Friday 13 January Mr Abang, an Ogoja-born former chapter president of National Association of Cross River State Students (NACRISS) had scribbled an open letter to Chief Obono-Obla titled: ‘Take A message to Chief Okoi Obono-Obla’ in which he frowned against the latter over declining a fraudulently presented contract gift from the Cross River state government. Abang further alleged that Chief Obono-Obla had recently demonstrated some nepotistic propensities amongst others.
According to Ogon, ‘Chief is blowing us off the lane again. He shared his personal conversation with the Commissioner for Environment; he alleged that he got a call from the Commissioner informing him that he has been considered to be “nominated” for a contract by the Executive
Governor of CRS.
‘He furnished us with the contact that placed the call and after proper investigations via the use of true caller app, the name attached to the number on the app established the truth, for
those of us who read Ikem Venatius on the politics of 2019 yesterday we have an edge on this issue, nobody is trying to witch hunt anybody, somebody is only playing the politics of 2019 in 2017
‘In case he complaints of the advertorial
abnormalities, ask him to furnish you with the vacancy advertorial for all the federal jobs he has shared for his APC family members. Ask him if he is trying to discredit Ayade because they sin differently. Tell him “the rest of us” are apolitical, all we care for is two square meals today and tomorrow is another day, tell him “the rest of us” are suffering. Tell him “the rest of us” are keeping a date with him, whenever he comes for our vote.’, he continued.
Screenshot of Obla’s response 
In his reply, Chief Obono-Obla observed that, ‘Abang Ogon. You surely have the right to express yourself but you do not have right to indulge in malicious  falsehood and defamation. Can you substantiate your assertion that I shared Federal jobs to my family members?
‘Otherwise I will brief my lawyers to write you a letter seeking for Legal redress. You have 48 hours to substantiate your allegations’, he concluded.
As at press time, Ogon was yet to go to furnish the thread with any form of substantiation.
What follows is a full text of Ogon’s Take A message to Chief Okoi Obono-Obla:
Chief Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla is a household name in Cross River State in particular and Nigeria at large. As a legal luminary the political activist have been consistent and unshaken in the opposition, he is always in our space making news for advocating for good governance or trying to set the record straight; truth is, he is very admirable and a perfect gentleman.

‘But his actions and assertions of late leaves me in a pond of confusion: first, during the Yuletide he threw goodwill to the wind and scolded his poor constituents not to expect anything from the political class, he bugged them with the rhetorics of his party being a
gathering of saints and cannot go extra miles to get involved in frivolous activities to buy rice for them during the Yuletide. He told them that his salary is only for him and his family that “the rest of us” can go and die.
‘It didn’t go down well with me, I was very conscious about “the rest of us”, the poor illiterate men and women who lost a lot to the Nko vs Mkpani power display, I responded shallowly by asking him where the saints got monies from to flood the same constituents with trailer loads of rice to romance for votes during the last rerun? 

It was to me palpable that the votes of his constituents every four years is of more value to him and his party than the existence of “the rest of us” in the same period of time.
‘While “the rest of us” were trying to get over that in the spirit of the new year as Christians, Chief is blowing us off the lane again. He shared his personal conversation with the Commissioner for Environment; he alleged that he got a call from the Commissioner informing him that he has been considered to be “nominated” for a contract by the Executive
Governor of CRS.

‘He furnished us with the contact that placed the call and after proper investigations via the use of true caller app, the name attached to the number on the app established the truth, for those of us who read Ikem Venatius on the politics of 2019 yesterday we have an edge on this issue, nobody is trying to witch hunt anybody, somebody is only playing the politics of 2019 in 2017.

‘My message to Obla, tell him when you see him, tell him to pair 20 young men in his party (experts in waste management) and recommend them for the job. Tell him politics is politics and governance is governance. Ask him what our fate is when persons with tested integrity level flee contracts for jobbers? Ask him what he puts first, service to his people or partisanship,
ask him if the funds for the contract is coming from a person’s pocket or from government coffers? Ask him whether his services to CRS is restricted to APC? Ask him the wrong it is for governing party to stretch a hand of fellowship to opposition at any level, ask him his plans for “the rest of us” since largesse from his salary is above our reach.

In case he tells you saint don’t dine with
sinners, ask him whether sinners will canonize into saint when they jump ship, remind him the unprintable names he once called Sen Ndoma Egba and what they are today.

‘In case he complaints of the advertorial
abnormalities, ask him to furnish you with the vacancy advertorial for all the federal jobs he has shared for his APC family members. Ask him if he is trying to discredit Ayade because they sin differently. Tell him “the rest of us” are apolitical, all we care for is two square meals today and tomorrow is another day, tell him “the rest of us” are suffering. Tell him “the rest of us” are
keeping a date with him, whenever he comes for our vote.

‘Finally remind him that “the rest of us” makes the majority.

Abang Ogon
(Team Leader, “The Rest Of Us”).
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is a Blogger, the Editor & Publisher of NegroidHaven.org