Both of the Okah brothers were arrested while Dr Jonathan was in office for their roles in bombing campaigns. Henry Okah, who was implicated in the October 1, 2010 bombing in Abuja, was jailed in South Africa two years ago.
On January 21 2013, Okah was convicted by a South African court which found him guilty of 13 charges of terrorism and bombing. He is currently serving a 24-year jail term at the Ebongweni Correctional Centre in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. His brother Charles is standing trial after being accused of being the mastermind of the 2010 Independence Day bombing in Abuja.
In the suit, Charles alleged that some top federal government officials visited him at Kuje Prisons in Abuja to endorse the second term ambition of the former president with an offer of $1m, which he rejected. Their solicitor, Timipa Jenkins, confirmed that he had received the instruction of the Okah brothers to sue both Dr Jonathan and Mr Eze.
He added: “It is our client’s brief that the entire contents of the said statement breached their fundamental right to fair hearing as secured and guaranteed to them by the extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 2004. Secondly, one of our clients, Mr Charles Okah, has reacted to and corroborated the recent revelations made by one Cynthia Whyte regarding the unsuccessful attempts made by former President Jonathan to lobby the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) to endorse the former President’s 2015 failed re-election bid."
Charles added: “A quid pro quo was then proposed and in exchange for our cooperation, the sum of $1m was offered in mint cash. I was shown the money and promised that once the endorsement was released the money will be made available and paid to whomever I mentioned to give it to.
“They promised that the trumped-up charges against my co-accused Obi Nwabueze and I will be dropped and that Edmund Ebiware, convicted to life imprisonment would be given a presidential pardon, while there will be no government interference in influencing the outcome of my brother’s Appeal in South Africa. Few days later, I contacted my brother Henry and briefed him about the visit bit after listening to me, he immediately rejected the proposal in its entirety, disdained the conditional offer for our release, and the $1m bribe, saying we will not sell our birth right for a bowl of porridge."
He stressed that Henry then told him to brace-up himself for another four years in prison should former President Goodluck Jonathan gets a second term. According to Charles, Henry then directed him to appeal to Mend to endorse Muhammadu Buhari, a preferred choice and damn the consequences.
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