BEVERLY HILLS, April 11, (THEWILL) – He may have lost the battle to install Osagie Ize Iyamu as the substantive governor of Edo state, following his fallout with Governor Godwin Obaseki, what with the millions of naira he deployed to ensure that Obaseki’s dream of a second tenure remained a mirage. He may also be critically ill, having spent close to eight months in a London hospital treating a terminal illness, but that has not stopped him from forging on. The stupendously wealthy chairman of Ocean Marine Solutions Limited, an offshore asset protection company, has managed to keep his pulse on the scheme of things and maintained his winning streak.
First, a petition written by his erstwhile business partner, businessman and former Skye Bank chairman, Tunde Ayeni, to the police force and anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, accusing him of gross mismanagement and criminal diversion of company funds, was thrown out for lack of evidence. Ayeni had claimed that Okunbo, in 2003, deceived him and took over control of Ocean Marine Solutions Limited which they both supposedly own, while he was undergoing a court trial, claiming that the trial distracted him. Following ‘careful investigation,’ the police concluded that Ayeni’s allegation was baseless, malicious and false while adding that documentary evidence provided by Okunbo clearly shows that he (Okunbo) lawfully acquired Ayeni’s interest in Ocean Marine Solutions Limited (OMS) for the valuable consideration of two billion naira.
Still basking in the euphoria of this pronouncement, his son in-law, Prince Utieyinoritsetsola Emiko was announced as the 21st Olu of Warri. Married to Ivie Uhunoma, one of his daughters from his first wife, the union is blessed with three children. The 37-year-old Olu designate is the founder of Noble Nigeria Ltd. and Coral Curator Ltd. He is also the Chairman of Ocean Marine Security Limited and a director in Gulf of Guinea Ltd, Vessel Link Big Limited.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
