Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has reacted to allegation he was convicted in California before he became a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to him, the youth group raking up the mud is an unscrupulous band of mischief makers who misread his recent visit to the US and Canada.
Reacting through a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Yomi Odunuga on Monday, the senator said political jobbers were working hard to reopen issues that have since been resolved in Omo-Agege’s favour.
He noted Omo-agege travelled for personal and official reasons last week to promote the nation’s political ideology, saying that his visit has nothing to do with conviction allegation.
“On the contrary, an unscrupulous band of mischief makers at home calling itself a ‘youth group’ purportedly led by one Solomon Adodo is seeking to mislead gullible people with lies and propaganda by calling for the immediate resignation of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, over a spurious and malicious allegation of a conviction by a Californian court,” the statement read in part.
“Ordinarily, we would have ignored this latest effort by political jobbers to drag the name of the Distinguished Senator into disrepute.
To set the record straight, Omo-Agege ctually faced forgery allegation as a lawyer in the US during O.J. Simpson trial.
“Accordingly, he was declared innocent by the honourables Lance A. Ito (who presided over the popular O.J. Simpson murder trial case) and G. Magnera of the Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Omo-Agege had to fight hard for his innocence and God vindicated him against the expectations of evil men like the most sadistic blackmailer in the world,’ he said.
“Till date, he travels freely to and within the country without any hint of harassment.”
The public records that documented the allegation in the late ’90s stated he was re-admitted after his suspension by the bar, and his licence is still active till 2017–when the allegation first broke out
The saga was first dug up in Nigeria in 2018, and Omo-Agege’s media aide addressed it by refuting the allegation.
Adodo just dusted it up, and was issuing ultimatum, and urging the senator to resign for violating Nigerian law that demands declaration of past conviction before a federal lawmaker can be sworn in.