*As Ibe threatens to sue Udensi for libel
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
The wind of discord threatening to blow away the Abia State Chapter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is far from abating as one of the party chieftains, Sir Chikwe Udensi has accused the party’s governorship candidate, Prof. Greg Ibe, of indulgin in certificate scandal
But Ibe has swiftly denied the charge and threatened to drag Udensi before a court of law for alleged perjury.
The dog-and-cat relationship between Ibe and Udensi, who are angling for the governorship ticket, became magnified after Ibe emerged the standard bearer of Abia APGA for the 2023 governorship election in the state.
Following Udensi’s loss, he had dragged Ibe to court, asking to be declared the winner of the APGA governorship primary of which, he (Udensi) had organized his own primary, different from the one organised and supervised by the party.
However, the Abuja court ruled that Abia APGA should organize a fresh governorship primary, a judgement Ibe has since appealed.
In his latest attack on Ibe, Udensi, in a radio programme in Umuahia, last Wednesday, December 7th, 2022, alleged that Ibe was parading fake West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate, as well as fake NYSC exemption certificate.
In the monitored interview in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, with the Family Love 99.9 FM, Umuahia, Udensi said that Prof. Greg Ibe, did not only forge his WAEC Certificate but also forged his National Youth Service Corps ( NYSC) discharge certificates and got his Professorship from an unknown University in United States of America in just two years and therefore queried his (Ibe’s) academic claim of being a Professor.
A viral video of the said fake WAEC certificate alleged that Prof Greg Ibe submitted a fake WAEC result to INEC as part of his academic qualifications, as another WAEC certificate exactly like to that of Ibe has also been spotted.
In the two WAEC results marked A and B, the video clip claimed that A was the original WAEC result belonging to one Ibe Joseph from Anambra State, written in Enugu State in the 1992, Nov/Dec examination year, with the examination number 04834360, while the result marked B as submitted to INEC by Prof Ibe is assumed to be his result with his name Ibe Gregory on it and with exam number 04834360, exactly with the same examination number belonging to Ibe Joseph which was written in Enugu state in 1992.
Udensi who is a security expert, said during the radio programme that while verifying both results at the WAEC portal, using the same examination number, it was discovered that the Nov/Dec 1992 result with examination number 04834360 belongs to Ibe Joseph from Anambra State.
Sources claim that the WAEC result of Prof. Greg Ibe was currently being challenged by Major Gen Ijiomah N Ijiomah (Retired) in court, and Udensi vowed to follow suit by also heading to court, ”to file criminal proceedings against Prof. Greg Ibe, as the issues discovered are not something to be swept under the carpet.”
But in a swift response, Ibe denied his alleged involvement in any certificate scandal, describing Udensi as a serial liar.
Ibe who spoke through the Director, Media and Publicity, Prof Gregory Ibe Campaign Organization, Rev. Sleek Ogwo, noted that Udensi’s allegations were libelous and that they would meet him in court soon.
Ibe’s stamen read: “Having heard the libelous fabrications of Sir Chikwe Udensi, a suspended governorship aspirant of our party, APGA, which he uttered while participating in a paid political programme on Family Love 99.9 FM Umuahia, in what turned out to be a failed attempt to deceive his listeners by alleging that Prof Gregory Ibe, the Abia state governorship candidate of APGA presented forged WASCE and NYSC certificates to INEC, we hereby wish to make the following clarifications;
“That Prof Ibe schooled in Methodist High School Ihube from 1978 to 1983 and subsequently obtained the General Certificate of Education (GCE) certification in both O and A levels.
“That he attended Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) between 1995 and 1999 for his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, California Coast University Santa Ana USA from 2000 to 2006 for his Masters degree in Health Care Management and PhD in Management respectively.
“That contrary to Sir Udensi’s misleading gibberish Prof Ibe’s alma mater California Coast University Santa Ana is a fully accredited institution of higher learning in the USA, where he spent three years to acquire his PhD certificate in Management and not two years as alleged by the suspended guber aspirant.
“That he secured mandatory exemption certificate from the National Youth Service Corps Scheme (NYSC) on age grounds subsequently.
“That the above mentioned certificates and other essential documents chronicling and attesting to the academic acquisitions of Prof Ibe have been deposited with appropriate regulatory agencies as required by law, and are therefore verifiable by all interested parties.
“That our legal team has been briefed about these baseless and unfounded accusations by Sir Udensi and are currently perfecting documents for litigation on grounds of perjury.
“That we are not surprised about this latest antic of a serial loser whose fame in fraudulent activities is legendary, as will soon become public knowledge.
“Abians are therefore enjoined to disregard the lies and gibbering of Sir Udensi, who as a drowning man, is gasping for life while desperately clutching on anything for survival.”
It would be recalled that, using that same platform, Udensi had, before the APGA governorship primary, told Abians that retired General Ijiomah was dismissed from the army, that he never retired as he was claiming, adding that he went to Army headquarters to obtain the document.
But Ijioma came to same radio station and read to the public, the contents of his retirement letter which put paid to Udensi’ lies against the Army General.
When confronted on his next appearance with Ijiomah’s response, Udensi merely retorted that he would go back to the Defence Headquarters to authenticate the report he had obtained.