Tompolo Berates Kokori , Says He is Seeking Political Relevance in Govt

Tompolo Berates Kokori , Says He is Seeking Political Relevance in Govt

Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, an ex-militant leader and embattled former head of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta  (MEND), has accused former Secretary of the Nigerian Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) Chief Frank Ovie Kokori of seeking political relevance by meddling in his (Tompolo's) affairs.

Through his Media Adviser and Consultant, Paul Bebenimibo, in an e-mailed statement on Sunday, Ekpemupolo claimed that Kokori and other All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in Delta State were taking advantage of his present ordeal with the Law, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to get cheap publicity because they wanted political appointments.

In the statement in response to a call by Kokori for the former MEND leader to come out of hiding to face charges from the EFCC, Bebenimibo described the action of the former labour leader as meddlesome and political relevance seeking.

Reacting to an article in a national daily at the weekend, titled "Tompolo should go and face EFCC Eyeball to eyeball, by Frank Ovie Kokori", Tompolo's aide said that "Frank Ovie Kokori and cohorts should mind their business."

He alleged that certain Delta APC leaders and their business associates had been sabotaging the national economy by sponsoring attacks on pipelines and other oil facilities in the Niger-Delta and blaming such on Tompolo in an attempt to attract attention of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Ijaw high chief, however, restated his assurance that he would eventually appear in court over the EFCC charges, for which he has been declared a wanted man by the law court, saying he was only awaiting the nudge of his legal counsel presently working on the matter.

The statement, made available to THISDAY in Asaba, read in part, "We have imagined why the APC leader decided to make such a statement, like other APC leaders in the past, at this time on a matter that is before a law court.

"Ordinarily, we would have ignored Ovie Kokori like others if not for intelligent information we gathered from a clandestine meeting held by this group of persons on how to implicate Tompolo in a planned act of pipeline destruction in the Niger Delta region.

"We have been made to understand that this set of APC leaders are out there to get favour from President Muhammadu Buhari by way of appointments and empowerment with the issue of Tompolo and EFCC.

"These people have inundated President Buhari and security agencies particularly in the Niger Delta with unfounded information that Tompolo is preparing to fight the APC-led Federal Government by way of destroying crude oil pipelines and other oil facilities, whereas they are the ones that are planning to carry out such barbaric acts in order to portray themselves as patriotic party members to get appointments and contracts from the government and its agencies. This is a disturbing development in the Nigerian politics today.

"We are aware of the antics of these so-called party faithful. Most of them are not even happy with the performance of the President Buhari administration, particularly the appointment of party members to political positions, but they rather chose the issue of "Tompolo and EFCC" to show faithfulness in the administration to get favour from Mr President.

"Let such ones know that the act of using someone's predicament to get favour is an evil and wicked act. There are so many issues to discuss in Nigeria today. In fact, our dear country is at a historical crossroads: the state of the economy, no power supply, the scarcity of petroleum products, the state of the Naira and other issues are worthy to be discussed by Ovie Kokori and his likes.

"Their priority should be how Nigeria should be out of this socio-economic and political quagmire and not Tompolo and the EFCC that they have chosen to make headlines by on daily basis.

"Tompolo has said severally that he will not resort to violence because of the issue he is having with the EFCC because he has a good case, and his lawyers are working towards his eventual appearance in the law court.

"Therefore, Ovie Kokori and other APC leaders in Delta and Bayelsa States should mind their business and think of how to make Nigeria great again. They should not go and destroy crude oil pipelines and put the blame on Tompolo, because he (Tompolo) will not condescend low to destroying oil facilities he was and still is protecting from criminal elements."