Atiku and Buhari (Photo: Premium Times)
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku
Abubakar, has called on the appropriate authorities to urgently
institute a probe to unravel those he said may be hidden faces behind
the new ownership structure of multi billion naira telecoms giant,
Etisalat (now 9mobile) Nigeria as well as Keystone Bank.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday and signed by his
Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the former
vice president said such a probe was necessary in view of reports that
members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s family now own substantial
shares in Etisalat (9mobile) Nigeria which has an estimated $2b (about
N727b at 360 per dollar) of its estimated $20b global net worth.
Atiku also expressed shock at reports from what he described as
unimpeachable sources that the first family now plays big in the
nation’s financial sector after acquiring mouthwatering shares in
Keystone Bank with total assets of $1.916b (equivalent to N307.5b) as
well as purchasing about N3b worth of shares in the new Pakistani
Islamic Bank.
He said, “I know that last week was turbulent for President
Buhari and I apologise for adding to his woes, but as he is insistent on
the myth that he is spotless and anti-corrupt, if this is found to be
true, this scandal would break every rule of corporate and public
governance, since this will be the first time members of the first
family will be openly involved in a once-in-a-lifetime deal that would
make them all richer beyond their wildest dreams.”
Atiku added that the accusation was coming amidst reported
allegations in the media that the All Progressives Congress-led Federal
Government plans to use billions of naira from the Anchor Borrowers
Programme allocated by the Central Bank of Nigeria for farmers, using
imaginary donations from 12 million farmers as a façade.
The presidential candidate of the PDP advised President Buhari to
shun the use of state resources and machinery for the upcoming 2019
presidential poll.
Specifically, Atiku said no farmer contributed any N1.7b for
Buhari’s re-election campaign, warning that the APC’s decision to use
monies meant for farmers “to run his campaign is not tidy at all.”
He added, “The other day, a man who scored 15,424,921 votes to
win the 2015 general election was reported to have been nominated by 14
million APC members at the presidential primaries for 2019.
“Now, over 12 million farmers have donated to his campaign. Are
they indirectly spewing out outrageous figures of people they intend to
claim voted for them in the coming elections?
“Does it mean that the President has jettisoned the idea of a
free and fair election and telling Nigerians that no matter how they
vote, he will return for a second term of four years?
“In any case, if the farmers who just took a loan through the
Borrowers Anchor programme and have not liquidated the facility can
donate this huge sum or any sum for that matter, it means the
‘Association of widows’ and children of all those slain by Boko Haram
and herdsmen will donate N5b to the Buhari campaign.
“In fact, the 23.1 million youths who lost their jobs between 2016 till date will donate about N12b to the Buhari campaign.
“Assuming but not even conceding that such a huge sum of money
was donated to President Buhari by Nigerian farmers as his handlers
would want Nigerians to believe, wouldn’t such donation be in
contravention of Section 91(9) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended)
which says no individual or other entity shall donate more than N1m to
an aspirant or a candidate.”
He said if President Buhari wants to run for office next year, he
should take only from monies sourced from donations by his campaign
groups that are independent of government.
“Anything short of that – as is currently the case with the use
of funds from the CBN meant for farmers- will mean there will be no
level playing field for all the candidates billed to contest the
presidency during next year’s presidential elections,’’ Atiku said.
Source: PUNCH.