Former Rivers State governor Peter Odili yesterday washed his hands clean of any involvement in cult activities and violence that were the order of the day in the state during his tenure.
He told the state�s Truth and Reconciliation Commission which relocated to Abuja to hear his testimony and that of Sir Celestine Omehia that he neither sponsored violence nor cult-related activities throughout his tenure.
Odili was governor of the state from May 1999 till May 2007 but Omehia was declared governor of the same state for a few months after May 2007 before the Supreme Court nullified his election.
Odili also told the Justice Kayode Eso-led commission that he did not know or have a hand in the deaths of two prominent politicians in the state, Dr. Marshal Harry and Chief A.K. Dikibo.
He had earlier adopted his written submission in defence of allegations levelled against him by persons and communities during the commission’s sitting in Port Harcourt.
Odili told the commission that the state would witness no genuine peace and reconciliation until the incumbent governor Rotimi Amaechi stopped the �harassment and witch-hunting� of those he regarded as his enemies.
Odili who testified for about six hours alleged that the commission was set up to smear his image, accusing its chairman, Justice Kayode Eso, of personal bias against him.
He referred to a lecture delivered by the retired Supreme Court Justice where he allegedly called him an unscrupulous element for using the judiciary to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting him for alleged corruption.
But Eso dismissed the allegation, insisting that his opinion on the matter had not changed, saying the injunction Odili secured was not known to law and justice.
Odili also dismissed a claim by Amaechi before the commission that he advised him against using cult groups for his elections between 1999 and 2007 when he governed the state.
Odili said he honoured the commission�s invitation because of the respect he had for Eso.
He said: �I have chosen to come and respond because of my personal respect for you (Eso) and members of your commission and also because, as the saying goes, evil triumphs when good men keep quiet.
�I have watched with amazement, disdain and pity, the melodrama that has emerged from the public hearings since June 2nd 2008. It is absolutely clear, My Lord, that this commission was set up for only one reason: to attempt to smear the image and hard-earned good name and reputation of Dr Peter Odili, discredit his government and the good works he did as governor.
�Clearly, no truth and reconciliation was intended by those who conceived the idea of this commission and given the trend so far, I dare say that no reconciliation can be achieved. It is regrettable that Your Lordship has been persuaded to head this commission.�
As he spoke, the former governor�s horde of supporters applauded him but an unruffled Eso told Odili that all those applause would not be part of the commission�s record.
Denying membership of and connection with any cult group in the state, Odili said: �I have never been a member of any secret society or cult group in all my life and I have never sponsored or encouraged any cult group.
�I challenge anyone who disputes any of the above statements to come forward with incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. At no time between 1999 and 2007 did Governor Amaechi advise me against the use of cult groups for elections because there was no need for such advice.�
Odili revealed how former president Olusegun Obasanjo linked him up with Dokubo Asari and Tom Ateke in 2004 when the crisis in the state was brewing.
�Late afternoon on the 1st of October 2004, I got a call from the Presidency to come urgently. When I got to the Villa, I met a group of young men apparently from my state who had been brought to the Villa for the purpose of making peace and stopping the violence in the state. They were said to be representing Ateke and Asari�s groups and both men (Asari and Ateke) were also present.
�That was my first time of sitting with Ateke in my life. That meeting led to the limited amnesty by the Federal Government and the setting up of two committees-one for social welfare and another for arms recovery.
�I was privileged to chair the arms recovery committee which included an army general, an air vice marshal, a rear admiral, a police commissioner, a director from the SSS, Asari and Ateke.�
On the allegation that he killed both Harry and Dikibo, Odili confirmed a strain in his relationship with Harry but denied having a hand in his murder.
�From 1998 when we first met, we enjoyed a very cordial and friendly relationship. When I got elected in 1999, he was the state chairman of the party and we related very well. We disagreed over the issue of government/party relationship and patronage. We however got reconciled through the intervention of two of our revered royal fathers and we resumed our cordial relationship quietly since he was by then the national vice chairman of another political party.
�The last contact I had with him was before he traveled abroad. I was rudely shocked to hear of his brutal death one early morning (05/03/2003) I had no idea he was back to Nigeria. I deny, in the name of God, that I had anything whatsoever, to do with Marshal Harry�s death,� he said.
But on one particular question which sought to know how the state got into the present pathetic situation of insecurity, Odili passed the bulk to the Federal Government, saying insufficient security in the country was responsible.
On some other sensitive issues of state, Odili said only the secretary to his government could answer to such to which Eso asked if the former secretary was an encyclopedia.
The former governor also rationalised how he had to relocate to Abuja, saying he had never lived apart from his family and that the movement of his wife to the Court of Appeal in Abuja also aided his relocation.
Odili was accompanied to the venue of the hearing by the immediate past governor of Rivers state, Omehia, Dr. Abiye Sekibo who is expected to testify today and a host of former members of his government.
Jun182008