Donations To Peace Institutions Ought Not To Be Criminalised – Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has admitted his son-in-law
Mallam Babalele Abdullahi donated N50million to an official of
ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo library.

A statement by Atiku Media Office said such donations to
institutions set up to promote peace in Nigeria and Africa should
be commended, not criminalised.

It accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
of attempting to cause disaffection and bad blood between former
President Olusegun Obasanjo and his former deputy, Atiku
Abubakar.

Babalele is being investigated alongside others for alleged
laundering of €150million.

One of those under probe is Mr. Uyi Giwa-Osagie, who is a lawyer
and an associate of Atiku.

About €67, 950,000 out of the suspected €150m had been traced to
the accounts of Osagie, Babalele, two slush firms and two Bureau De
Change operators.

Of the € 67.9m, Uyi’s account received huge inflows of
€26,050,00million between January 9th and 28th, 2019.

Babalele is expected to account for €41,900,000.

But out of the cash credited to Babalele, he gave about
N50million ($140,000) to his childhood friend, Bashir Mohammed to
take to an official of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential
Library in Abeokuta.

It was unclear why the $140,000 was taken to the library but the
undisclosed purpose was being investigated by the EFCC.

The EFCC detectives have also combed the library in company of
Bashir.

Atiku Media Office however in a statement in Abuja alleged that
the EFCC’s probe was desperation on the part of the current
administration to rope in former President Olusegun Obasanjo into a
crime.

It said: “It has come to our attention that the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission is feeding members of the media with
deliberate falsehoods in an attempt to cause disaffection and bad
blood between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his former
deputy, Atiku Abubakar, on one hand, and between former President
Obasanjo and Nigerians in general.

“Patriotic journalists, alarmed by the wickedness of the EFCC’s
underhand and unprofessional actions, have exposed their dastardly
plans to us and we are indeed disappointed at the EFCC.

“An action such as this is tantamount to a river denying its own
source, since Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is the fountain of origin of
the EFCC, seeing as he founded the institution and nurtured it to
maturity.”

Although Atiku Media Office admitted that Babalele donated
N50million to Olusegun Obasanjo Library, it said it was not in
cash.

It said the donation was made via a bank transfer in full
compliance with the law.

It clarified that presidential libraries in America and other
parts of the world are similarly funded by donations from
civic-minded individuals.

It added: “For the avoidance of doubt, Mallam Babalele
Abdullahi, Atiku Abubakar’s son-in-law, did not donate any money in
cash to the Olusegun Obasanjo Library.

“Yes, he did facilitate a donation of fifty million naira to the
Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, but so did many other
individuals, including civic-minded traditional rulers, state
Governors, bankers and captains of industry.

“This is because the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library is a
non-governmental organisation that plays a pivotal role in
promoting peace and stability in Nigeria and that should be
applauded. “Unlike another past leader, who did not improve himself
or Nigeria after leaving office, but sat down nursing grudges and
plotting revenge, former President Olusegun Obasanjo improved
himself and Nigeria by authoring books, founding international
think tanks and engaging in peace and capacity building
efforts.

“Donations to institutions set up to promote peace in Nigeria
and Africa are to be commended, not criminalized. Presidential
libraries in America and other parts of the world are similarly
funded by donations from civic-minded individuals.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Mallam Abdullahi’s donation of N50m
was made via a bank transfer, in full compliance with the law. He
did not donate or make any payment in cash, as the EFCC is
erroneously and salaciously misleading the public.”

The statement said the sources of the donation were legitimate
and proven to EFCC.

It added: “Furthermore, the sources of these funds are
completely legitimate and have been conclusively proven to the
EFCC. It is instructive to note that even the EFCC has not once
claimed these funds to be the proceeds of any illegal activity
whatsoever.

“The truth is that there is desperation on the part of the
current administration to rope in former President Olusegun
Obasanjo into a crime as a way of silencing his voice, which they
see as the preeminent critical voice against the misrule that they
have foisted on Nigerians.

“This is why they asked the Federal Inland Revenue Service to
falsely and libelously include his name in a published list of tax
evaders, along with the names of other Peoples Democratic Party
sympathisers, such as prominent international singer and pride of
Nigeria, Davido, who played a prominent role in PDP’s gubernatorial
campaign in Osun state, for which he is being punished.

“We are therefore calling on Nigerians to be watchful for false
and misleading stories planted in the media by the EFCC against
Atiku Abubakar, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other
persons deemed to be opponents of this government.

“Let it be known that former President Olusegun Obasanjo
established the EFCC to be an investigative body and not a
propaganda or enforcement arm of the ruling party, as it is now
being misused.”

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Aregbesola Tasks Interior Services to Improve Internal
Security

The Federal Government has again charged security agencies under
the Ministry of Interior to brace up in the fight against
insecurity in line with the policy direction of the Federal
Government which is improving security, revitalizing the economy
and entrenching transparency in the conduct of government
business.

The Honourable Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji
Aregbesola gave this charge today when the Permanent Secretary,
Barr. Georgina Ekeoma Ehuriah, MON officially handed over the
affairs of the Ministry to him in his Office in Abuja.

Aregbesola, in his speech, titled, “WE MUST SET FORTH NOW,”
revealed: “There is no denying the fact that we have internal
insecurity, but it is not peculiar to us as a nation, it is like
that all over the world, each nation with its own peculiarities,
what is important is how we respond to the security challenges
confronting us.”

“From antiquity and political philosophy, the primal
responsibility of government is the welfare of the people,
protection of lives and property and maintenance of peace. It is
the foundational responsibility on which other responsibilities are
built. This is the basis on which we campaigned and Nigerians voted
for us. It is a sacred mandate we are fully determined to deliver
on,” he stressed.

The Minister further called on the Services, officers and staff
of the Ministry to join hands with the President Muhammadu Buhari
led Administration in protecting lives and property of the
citizens, in line with the Ministry’s mandate with a view to moving
the country to the next level of socio-economic development.

Aregbesola said, ‘we must set forth now for an improved internal
security’, adding, ‘Ours is to prevent crimes, as the basis of
protecting lives and property, it will become so difficult to
commit crime, once people know they cannot get away with it, so
brace up for the task’, he emphasised.

He pointed out that the Correctional Service should ensure that
all the correctional centres across the country are habitable,
comfortable and clean for inmates. Adding that inmates should be
well fed and given proper health care so as to make transition to a
new life very easy for them, in line with the new laws of the
Service.

The Minister opined that the primary role of our correctional
services should be, to make those who have the opportunity of
returning to the society, become reformed, rather than turning them
to becoming terrors to the society by abusing and brutalising
them.

He also charged the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to ensure
proper security of the nation’s borders, while calling on the
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to improve on
their intelligence gathering in the various communities.

Aregbesola who said that insecurity transcends kidnapping,
banditry and other social vices but also includes food insecurity,
natural disasters such as fire, therefore called on the Federal
Fire Service (FFS) to ensure prompt response and prevention of all
forms of fire disaster in the country.

Earlier, while presenting the handing over document to the new
Minister, the Permanent Secretary, Barr. Georgina Ekeoma Ehuriah,
MON, said: “This handing over note highlights the major policies,
programmes and activities of the Ministry of Interior, which has
immediate bearing on your statutory role as the chief policy
formulator and adviser to the administration on internal security
and public safety matters”.

Barr. Ehuriah added that, “all the major accomplishments that
were recorded by the Ministry, under the former Honourable Minister
of Interior, Lt. Gen (rtd) Abdulrahman Dambazau, and those few ones
that took place during the brief period that I was in charge of the
administration of the Ministry are contained herein.”

She that the mandate of the Ministry is to foster and ensure the
maintenance of internal security and citizenship integrity for the
promotion of good governance in the country.

SIGNED
Mohammed Manga
Director (Press & Public Relations)
For: Honourable Minister