Babachir Lawal, the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the
Federation says he is happy with the manner with which he is being
investigated by the EFCC.
During a programme on Channels Television titled, ‘Hard Copy’ which
was aired on Friday, the former SGF, who was sacked by President
Muhammadu Buhari on October 30, 2017, after being probed by a committee
headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, said he was confident that the
EFCC would get to the truth.
Lawal, who was accused by the Senate of allegedly awarding one of his
companies with a grass-cutting contract to the tune of N223m, said the
EFCC, being a neutral entity, would uncover the truth.
He said, “I like it (EFCC probe) because the EFCC has the capacity
both in equipment and personnel to get to the truth and they are
expected to be impartial. They are not politicians so they will get to
the truth. The EFCC will find out whether my letters of resignation to
the Corporate Affairs Commission through my lawyers is true. They will
find out whether I was still a signatory to the accounts. They have the
means to find out. Not like Shehu Sani who will say I was signing
cheques when there is no truth in that.”
The former SGF said despite his ordeal, he was still close to the
President. He added that he and Buhari as leaders of the All
Progressives Congress, still met on a regular basis.
In his words, “I still see the President, I have access to him.
If there is anything to discuss, we do so. He is a politician, we are
politicians. I joined politics to contribute to making Buhari the
President and that was the reason I joined politics and this will not be
an issue between us.”
When asked whether he felt he had brought shame on the Presidency, he
added, “No, because I believe it is a lie so why should I feel I let
him down.” He explained what he meant by the question, ‘who is the
Presidency?’ when he was accosted by State House correspondents at the
Presidential Villa shortly after his dismissal.
Lawal said it was not in the character of Buhari to announce the sack
of his appointees before informing them in person. He, therefore, said
he was surprised to hear the Presidency had sacked him when he was in
fact in charge of announcing appointments. Lawal, however, stated that
he expected an explanation from Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo before his
removal. The ex-SGF added, “The Vice-President ought to have told me. I expected him to have told me.”