In a recent report by Nation newspaper, former Aviation Minister, Femi
Fani-Kayode has lost one of his bank accounts to the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, over the $2.1bn arms deal fraud. The account was
frozen as the EFCC steps up investigation into the alleged funds received from
ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in the build-up to the 2015 elections.
Fani-Kayode declared on Friday, April 22, 2016 that he knew nothing
about the withdrawal of the cash from the CBN or funding of the campaign by the
former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki. However, the politician
admitted that campaign funds were paid into the account of a company linked
with a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, from where he was paid
for his services. In his words:
“Our funds were given to us by the President who was the leader of our
party through the Director of Finance of the PCO and we were not in a position
to inquire into the sources of funding of the party’s campaign. Indeed, it was
not our responsibility to do so.”
“Once I got these clarifications and confirmations, I agreed to receive
the funds into my bank account and use them for their stated purpose. The
transfers were made and I used the funds to carry out all our operations during
the course of the presidential campaign.”
“It was an aggressive and well-run campaign and we gave our opponents a
very hard time indeed. It was also very expensive and we barely had the
resources that we really needed, but we did an effective job with the little we
were given.”
“The whole nation, including our friends and our enemies, can bear
witness to that and they saw the excellent quality of our work. Hardly anyone
can dispute this, yet some fail to appreciate the fact that such a strong
showing costs a lot of money. Media and publicity campaigns cannot be run on
goodwill alone. You need cash and plenty of it.”
“During the course of the election and after its conclusion, I
submitted detailed accounts of our expenses and evidence of our work to the
Director of Finance of the PCO for onward transmission to the Director-General
of the PCO and ultimately President Jonathan himself about how the money was
spent and they were satisfied.”
“Given the fact that these were not public funds, the only legal body
that can inquire into our expenditure of campaign funds is President Goodluck
Jonathan who set up the PCO.”
Continuing, he said:
“I cannot sit by silently as my name is dragged through the mud in this
way and I am convicted in the court of public opinion. This has happened to me
once before and it took me seven years to clear my name. It will not happen to
me again.”
“Consequently I am constrained to take this opportunity to state the facts
of this matter, set the record straight and await my traducers and accusers to
make their next move. It is indeed time to challenge those that are making
these allegations and to kill the lie.”
“ The fact that my bank account was frozen on the orders of the EFCC
two weeks ago without any explanation is proof of the fact that I am being
targeted and that those that seek to have their wicked way with me are about to
pounce.”
“Given this, it is important that all the relevant facts are put before
the world before I am subjected to the Dasuki treatment, put away indefinitely
and not given the opportunity to defend myself before the public.”
“Meanwhile, in their usual manner, after this is done, the EFCC will
then flood the media with all manner of lies about my so-called atrocities
which only exist in the figment of their imagination.”
“The allegation of fraud and the receipt of public funds from the
National Security Adviser’s Office and Central Bank into my bank account are
false.”
“These allegations are baseless, wicked, shameful and irresponsible. It
is not true that any money was paid into my account by or from the National
Security Adviser’s Office, the Central Bank of Nigeria or any other government
agency or institution last year or at any other time.”
”As the Director of Media and Publicity of the Jonathan Presidential
Campaign Organization, I was asked to submit a budget for my Directorate by
Chief Tony Anenih, the Presidential Adviser to the Presidential Campaign
Organization and Mrs. Nenadi Usman, the Director of Finance.”
“My team and I prepared the budget and it was approved. Rather than
collect cash, for security reasons and the purposes of accountability, I was
advised by the Director of Finance to open a bank account for this purpose,
which I did. The funds were paid into that account in installments at the
beginning of last year by the Director of Finance and each deposit was
authorized and approved by the Presidential Adviser to the PCO, Chief Tony
Anenih.”
“The account that they used to transfer the money to me was a private
company account which was owned or under the control of the Director of
Finance. It was the same company account that was used to send money to all the
other Directors of the PCO and the Zonal Directors, State Directors and all our
PDP governorship and legislative candidates during the various campaigns.”
“When I asked about the sources of the funds, I was told by the
Director of Finance that the funds were sourced from private individuals and
private companies who opted to support and fund President Jonathan’s campaign.
She told me that no money was paid into her company from any government
official, account or agency. This she told me in the presence of witnesses and
I believed her.”
“I was told that there was a fundraising event held by our party (PDP)
which took place in early January 2015 in which billions of naira were raised
specifically for the Presidential campaign. I believed this to be true and I
had no reason to doubt it. In January 2015, I was appointed as the Director of
Media and Publicity for the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization
by President Goodluck Jonathan.”
“The Director-General of the Campaign Organization was Senator Ahmadu
Alli and the Deputy Director-Generals were Alhaji Ibrahim Turaki SAN (North)
and Governor Peter Obi (South). Chief Tony Anenih, an elder statesman and one
of the most distinguished and revered leaders in our country, was the
Presidential Adviser to the campaign organization.”
“There were at least 10 other directors and directorates apart from me
and mine including the Directorate of Mobilization which was led by the
respected Professor Jerry Gana and the Directorate of Administration which was
led by Alhaji Aliyu Modibbo. There were also zonal and state directors of the
Presidential Campaign Organization in all the zones and states of the country.”
“All these names that I have mentioned including all the other
directors whose names I have not mentioned are, as far as I am aware, men and
women of immense integrity and good character and they have mostly been either
ministers of the Federal Republic or state governors at one time or the other
in our history. It was an honour to serve alongside such people and I have
absolutely no regrets about doing so.”
“Yet given the fact that I was not the only director in the campaign
organization and in view of the fact that all the directors and zonal and state
directors got their funds from the same source and account as I did, one
wonders why only I and three others should be singled out for this
reprehensible treatment and these false allegations.”
“ I chose to remain silent on the issue until now simply because the
allegations have not been officially made by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) or anyone else, but the newspapers keep citing their sources
“inside the EFCC” as their basis for these shameful allegations.”
“Mr. Josef Goebbels, Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s information minister,
when Germany was in the terrible grip of the Nazi party, said that once a lie
is repeated enough times, it becomes truth to those who are continuously subjected
to it. This is especially so if it goes unchallenged.”
Fani-Kayode, who took swipes at the EFCC and The Nation in his
statement, asked the anti-graft agency to “do the worst.” He said:
“Yet if this is an attempt to intimidate, silence or distract me, they
shall fail because I am not a coward and I do not fear them or those that sent
them to torment me. As long as Jesus is on the throne and our hands are clean,
no matter how long it takes, we shall prevail and ultimately they will pay a
heavy price for their malice, injustice and wickedness.”
“These are facts and readers can be rest assured that I will say
nothing different from this if and when I am formally asked by anyone or any
agency. When the EFCC begins to leak their falsehood and salacious allegations
to their agents in the media, kindly take note of the fact that, as usual, they
will be telling tall tales and they will be lying.”
“Now I challenge them to do their worse. I have no fear of them or of
those who have sent them to do this dirty job. May God judge them all and may
He reward them for their wickedness. The suggestion that the money was some
kind of “cash bonanza” or “bazaar” as has been reported by the leading
pro-government newspaper in the country today is childish and absurd.”
“If that had been the case, I doubt that I would have been foolish
enough to open a bank account to receive government funds or “bazaar funds” as
this would have been easily traced. If I had anything to hide or if I was doing
anything wrong, I would have insisted on collecting cash for my operations
which would have been far easier to conceal.”
“The fact that the EFCC gained access to my bank account and leaked
details of it to the media, including my inflows, is not only a gross violation
of my privacy, but it is also unlawful,” he said.
Femi Fani Kayode has consistently denied participating in the $2.1bn
arms deal fund claiming he was paid for his services as the director of
campaign for the ex-president’s campaign.
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