- Former CEO Jim Obazee denies fictitious financial impropriety allegations against him, calling them “outrageous falsehood”
- Obazee’s lawyer challenges the accusers to produce any filed criminal charges or court judgments convicting him, stating that the negative narratives are meant to tarnish his reputation
Jim Obazee, former Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, has claimed slander against him for some fictitious financial impropriety, calling it an “outrageous falsehood.”
Anayo Mbah, his lawyer, said at a press conference in Lagos on Thursday that the malicious campaign was intended to manipulate people’s perceptions of Obazee.
On July 28, President Bola Tinubu appointed Obazee as a special investigator to investigate the Central Bank of Nigeria and related entities.
His lawyer stated that since the announcement of his appointment, a series of negative narratives have been published by some online media to tarnish Obazee’s reputation.
Mbah said;
We challenge the peddlers of the false and malicious statements to produce the petition(s) and criminal charge(s) filed against Mr. Obazee, as well as the judgment(s) of the court convicting or sentencing him for any such criminal offences.
We state categorically that what Mr. Obazee is aware of is a purely employment-related civil suit filed at the National Industrial Court by one of the employees of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria for wrongful termination and other claims against FRCN, and wherein Mr. Obazee was joined as a party as the Chief Executive Officer. Judgment was given in the case, and FRCN and Mr. Obazee have since appealed against the decision of the National Industrial Court. There was never a criminal charge or conviction of Mr. Obazee in any court in Nigeria. The news is totally malicious and false.