By Joseph Treasure
Hon Bunmi Oguntuase, a Senior Legislative Aide to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has denied the reports that his principal has lost humongous amount of money lodged in Sterling Bank to court order freezing and restraining his access to the fund.
Oguntuase, said his principal, who is the federal parliamentarian representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, attributed the unnecessary smear campaigns to hatred haboured against the Senator by self -appointed adversaries, whose sole preoccupation is to bring down trees God had planted, either for personal, primordial or political reasons.
A statement in Ado Ekiti, on Thursday, by Bamidele’s Aide, Oguntuase, said unambiguously that no Court of Law issued any order freezing and restricting Senator Bamidele’s access to his accounts in any bank or ordering forfeiture of such as being bandied around by online scavengers.
Oguntuase said: “The attention of the Media Office of Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele has been drawn to a calumnious campaigns in some online media alleging that a Lagos High Court had issued an order confiscating some funds belonging to the distinguished Senator in Sterling Bank.
“We owe the unwavering belief that the deliberate misinterpretation of the court’s verdict was laced with malice and unwarranted vindictiveness .
“Setting the records in proper perspective for undiscerning members of public, Senator Bamidele never borrowed any loan from either Oceanic Bank, Sterling Bank or any bank whatsoever, neither is he owing any of the banks catalogued by the mischievous writer. Rather, it is Sterling Bank that is currently indebted to him in several millions of naira”.
Oguntuase added that it is no gainsaying that Senator Bamidele is a reputable lawyer, a foremost human rights activist, a seasoned politician with high integrity and a well respected lawmaker with excellent legislative credentials.
He added that Bamidele knew the proper operations of the law and how best to transact businesses with any banking institution without contravening the laid down statute .
“We therefore strongly condemn any attempt to blackmail, harrass, blacklist or malign his public image and personal reputation by some hired spin doctors masquerading as writers and hiding behind one finger to gain cheap recognition.
“We dissuade members of the public from being misled by the lacklustre report from the online journal given the fact that it seriously lacks any modicum of credibility, rather a figment of the demented imagination of the writers whose ultimate bellicose intent was to tarnish the hard-earned reputation that Senator Bamidele, the current Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, has attained over the years as an accomplished Lawyer, politician, activist and family man, in Nigeria and abroad.
“More importantly, the case in question is currently under adjudication in the Court of law, as any injurious statement or declaration made by either of the parties is essentially contemptuous of the court and should be disregarded by all well meaning members of the public.
“Without mincing words, we maintain that the said news report was a sponsored malignant statement aimed at smear the image of our principal and discredit him in the perception of the people.
“Against this backdrop, we wholeheartedly detest the content and character of the malicious report of Tuesday, 26th January, 2021 in the said online medium.
“We therefore demand that such dastardly and odious report be rescinded or retracted by them within seven days, failure which an appropriate legal action would be taken to redress the repugnant act aimed at defaming the personality of our principal”.
