From Fred Itua, Abuja

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An official of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration’s Legal Services Secretariat, Mr. Ehimony Joshua, alleged to have demanded a N525 million bribe from 15 allotees of 206 hectares of land in Kyami District, Abuja, has denied the allegation.
The allegation of bribery was made against the FCT official last Friday before the Senate Committee on FCT by three out of the 15 allotees, as a result of litigation caveat yet to be lifted from their land allocation files at the land allocation department of the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority (FCDA).
The litigation caveat, as stated in the petition submitted by the petitioners, came about as a result of litigation slammed against the 15 allotees by Toni Asuni and Bashiru Dantata, on behalf of Nigeria Polo Association, as purported first allotee of the land, which was supposed to have been vacated when the High Court of FCT, Abuja struck out the case on the grounds that the registered trustees of Nigeria Polo Association could not be found in the register of the Corporate Affairs Commission.
Specifically, one of the petitioners, Mrs. Laurel King, alleged that Joshua, in a recorded telephone conversation with her project coordinator, Bishop David Angel, on March 23, 2016, submitted two different personal bank accounts into which N35 million bribe should be paid in tranches of N30 million and N5 million respectively, but which she did not pay.
When confronted by the committee to react to the allegation, the FCDA official, in the presence of top officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, denied the allegation.
In the presence of Mrs. King, he declared that they had never met in life and he had no fraudulent financial transactions with her project coordinator.
“It, therefore, baffles my imagination that such personal relationship and interaction can be used to drive this type of killing allegation,” he said.