Embattled Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, yesterday told the Old Bailey Court, London that his failure to seek family member to donate kidney to his daughter was not a deliberate act.
He made the clarification yesterday while responding to the prosecution’s accusation that he failed to ask any family members to “step up” and help.
The Senator is accused of conspiring with others to exploit a Nigerian youth whose name cannot be mentioned according to court rules. The former deputy Senate president denies the charges. The boy who was a hawker in the streets of Lagos was taken to London as a kidney donor for Ekweremadu’s daughter Sonia.
Ekweremadu’s wife Beatrice, 56, daughter Sonia, 25, and his doctor Dr Obinna Obeta, 50, also deny the conspiracy charge. Under cross-examination yesterday, Ekweremadu was asked why he had not tried to find a suitable match among his family members. He said he believed it was not an option after being relayed a conversation between his medic brother Diwe and Dr Obeta in September 2021.
Continuing, he said: “He would have had basic knowledge. I’m not a doctor so if he says so, I believe him.”