Ahead of the Saturday, March 11, 2023 gubernatorial election, an umbrella body of professionals of Delta State origin known as Delta Professionals Network (DPN) has declared Labour Party Candidate, Deacon Ken Pela, disqualified on account of his indictment by a probe panel set up by the Delta State Government in 2009.

The Panel of Inquiry headed by the then Delta State Commissioner for Finance and later re-examined by another team headed by the then Delta State Deputy Governor, Prof Amos Utuama, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had found Ken Pela, then Chairman, Delta Building Society (DBS), guilty of corruptly diverting public funds to personal use in building his private house in Lagos and accordingly enriching himself massively to the tune of N100 million.

According to the Delta Professionals drawn from the three Senatorial zones, namely Central, North and South, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Chief Nnemeka Osuji, Secretary, Dr Steve Umukoro and Publicity Secretary, Elder John Bikawei, Pela was not only indicted but was dismissed and consequently sacked as Chairman of the DBS. “As such, he is ineligible to hold any public office except otherwise cleared by the Supreme Court ( the highest court in the land) or pardoned by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or any presidential body so authorized by the President of Nigeria and gazetted accordingly,” DPN said.

It further said in the statement, a copy of which was made available to News Express: “It will be recalled that the government of Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, acting on series of petitions against Ken Pela over alleged cases of fraudulent enrichment, had set up a probe panel headed by the then Commissioner of Finance in 2009 which recommended his dismissal and a review panel headed by the then Deputy Governor, Prof Amos Utuama, SAN, to review and look into all the circumstances surrounding the fraudulent disappearance of N100 million released to the Delta Building Society (Pela was Chairman of DBS), which were traced to Ken Pela’s personal account in Lagos.

“The review panel headed by Prof Utuama (SAN) did not only indict Ken Pela and found him guilty of corruptly enriching himself to the tune of N100m of Delta State funds but also endorsed the Commissioner of Finance-led Panel report for consequential sack. Consequently, Ken Pela was sacked by the Delta State government for corruption, stealing and illicit enrichment and asked to refund the money to the Delta State coffers.”

According to the Delta Professionals, “he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.” The group noted that the 1999 Constitution as amended does not allow anyone with indictment hanging on his neck to contest for political office in the country as examples of such in the First, Second and current republics abound. “Indeed, it would be recalled that late Chief Joseph Orhorho was dropped as a Ministerial nominee by President Shehu Shagari during the Second Republic after uncovering shocking findings that late Chief Joseph Orhorho was indicted by the then Midwest Government probe panel for corruptly diverting public money to personal use and was accordingly replaced by Chief Sowho. Indeed, the Senate in the Second Republic had stepped down the nomination of late Chief Joseph Orhorho and in his place, Chief Sowho stepped in,” DPN noted.

“Investigations,” it said, “also reveal that Prof Amos Utuama (SAN) who recommended Ken Pela for the job was very disappointed at the conduct of the said Ken Pela when he was finally found guilty after it was further uncovered that Ken Pela, who is today masquerading as a guber candidate after 14 years, had used the diverted N100m to start a personal building project in Lagos.”

DPN wondered why the Labour Party “could not do due diligence on the background of some of their candidates like Ken Pela who are today damaging, staining the name of Peter Obi under the alter of politics.”

The group also alerted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies, including Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), “to take note as the DPN is ready, equipped to drag Pela with petitions to the above bodies for stealing N100m from the suffering people of Delta State Government funds when he was chairman of Delta Building Society, DBS.” The body also maintained that it is prepared to go to court to expose the ineligibility of the Labour Party Candidate to stand for office.

The statement further highlighted the reasons why “Ken Pela went into oblivion since 2009 only to reappear in 2023 thinking that Deltans have forgotten his inglorious past, noting that all those who played part in the probe panel are still alive.”

ICPC, therefore, urged all Deltans “to shun this indicted politician hiding under the cover of Mr Peter Obi and vote for competence, sound educational background, evidence of good governance at all levels of public service, track record of excellent performance in projects execution and delivery across countless communities in Delta State and an exposed, sound professional that will take Delta state to the next level in the coming election on Saturday.”

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