The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ibeto Group, Cletus Ibeto, who is the star witness in the land tussle between his companies and Dozzy Oil, has told a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt that there was never a time he borrowed the sum of $3m from the defendant as court concludes cross examination.
Though there was intense disagreement, Ibeto insisted that he did not borrow the said sum from Dozzy Oil and Gas boss, Chief Daniel Chukwudozie, noting that instead, the land was sold to him and he paid the naira equivalent.
Counsel to the defendant also submitted that the applicant, Ibeto, borrowed another $3m, but he quickly denied that there was no such transaction.
But the defense counsel, Emmaneul Ukala, insisted that it was the second $3m that added up the amount in dispute to N4b for the land, and that there was a dispute with the conversion rate.
Reacting, Ibeto said he sincerely does not know the actual calculation being thrown up. “My Lord, I am under oath. What I am saying is true. There was no second $3m. I am happy the counsel (Ukala) knows me very well.”
He also acknowledged receiving the letter from the state government, dated March 5, 2018, requesting him to return the certified true copy of the documents relating to the land, noting that the certification was in error.
When asked if he complied with the directive, he said he didn’t return the documents because there was nothing wrong with it. But when taken up on whether he got any letter from the Ministry, either written in error or fake, he said he didn’t receive any such letter.
It was also discovered that Ibeto had engaged a private surveyor instead of a government surveyor, a move many think could have been the reason the approval was withdrawn.
Ibeto said he was not interested in that, insisting that the surveyor must not be working in the Surveyor General’s office. He noted that if the surveyor (names withheld) was not approved, the Surveyor General’s office would not have registered him. He was also intimated that the Rivers State Inland Revenue Service had written to deny issuing most of the documents he presented.
It was also discovered that payments of N50 stamp duty receipts for multimillion naira transactions done in 2017 were only paid on January 26, 2023, without any penalty payment. Ibeto was also asked if he was aware that Rivers State committees said he does not own the lands he was selling.
However, the trial judge, Justice A. Enebeli, after observing the cross examination of the applicant by the defense counsel, adjourned till February 15 and 16, 2023 for continuation of the matter.
