FAYOSE Childishly Obsessed With Incurable Boorish Instincts - Presidency Blasts Over Aisha Buhari False Link

Premium Times - The Presidency has dismissed as laughable the desperate attempt by Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State to link President Buhari’s wife, Aisha, to US Congressman William Jefferson’s bribery scandal for which the American lawmaker was convicted in 2009.

Reacting to Mr. Fayose’s allegations in a press statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said ordinarily the presidency would have ignored Fayose because he was a man “childishly obsessed with the desire to grab the headlines and insulting people at will because of his incurably boorish instincts.”

Mr. Garba explained however that the presidency chose to respond on this occasion for the sake of innocent Nigerians who might be misled by Mr. Fayose’s shameless and blatant distortion of facts.

He said ignoring Mr. Fayose carried the risk of giving traction and credibility to outright and brazen falsehoods inconsistent with the status of anybody that calls himself a Governor or leader.

According to Mr. Shehu, Aisha had no direct, indirect or the remotest connection with William Jefferson’s corruption scandal in the United States.

He challenged Mr. Fayose to tell Nigerians if the so-called Aisha whose pictures he proudly, but ignorantly shared, was the same Aisha married to President Muhammadu Buhari, or if the Aisha of his idle imagination had any relationship by blood or any relationship in whatever form with President Buhari’s wife.

Mr. Shehu also challenged Mr. Fayose to produce evidence from the records of investigation and subsequent trial of Jefferson to prove that Mr. Buhari’s wife Aisha was in anyway linked to that scandal. He explained that common names alone were not enough to automatically link innocent people to crimes or scandals, especially in an era of identity thieves.

He further challenged Mr. Fayose to show proof when and where Aisha Buhari was invited for interrogation in connection with Congressman William Jefferson’s bribery scandal, let alone indicted for a crime locally or abroad.

According to the presidential media aide, free speech does not entitle Governor Fayose to falsely accuse innocent people of crimes they knew nothing about.

He warned Fayose that Aisha Buhari was entitled to protect her reputation from being recklessly maligned, adding that political opposition was not a licence to attack people’s reputation brazenly without legal consequences.

Fayose GOOFED, Aisha in Jefferson’s Bribery Scandal Not Buhari’s Wife – Lamorde, Ex-EFCC Boss

The embattled Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose may have goofed as a former ant-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission boss, Ibrahim Lamorde has said the Aisha Buhari mention in the bribery scandal involving a United States of America Congressman, Williams Jefferson, is not President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife.

The issue came to the fore again on Monday after the EFCC froze the private account of the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, over investigation being conducted into the funding of the 2014 governorship campaign in Ekiti State.

Fayose had after leaving the bank accused the EFCC and President Buhari of witch hunting.

He said Buhari himself was not a saint and alluded to the Jefferson scandal.

He equally accused Buhari, in a statement issued later, of having an estate in Abuja.

The Aisha Buhari in the Jefferson scandal was said to have aided the transfer of $170,000 to Jefferson.

But Lamorde, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, said as one of those involved in the case when he was in the EFCC, he could authoritatively confirm that the Aisha was not Buhari’s wife.

He told PREMIUM TIMES: “I can tell you authoritatively that the Aisha Buhari named in that case is not President Buhari’s wife.

“It is another Aisha Buhari entirely.

“I was the Director of Operations at the EFCC at the time so I know about the case very well.

“I can tell you that it is not her (President Buhari’s wife).

“That much we established.”

The Aisha Buhari was mentioned on Page 22 of the court document on the website of the United States Department of Justice on the issue.

Kogi Gov. Bello, Messed Up in N1.5b Bribe For Election Tribunal Judges SCANDAL, Aisha Buhari IMPLICATED

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has been messed up over an allegation of N1.5billion bribe for election tribunal judges ahead the forthcoming judgement of the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal filed by James Faleke, the Deputy Governor to the late Abubakar Audu.

A civil rights group under the aegis of Kogi Patriotic Front (KPF), has alleged that Governor Yahaya Bello, has given out N1.5 billion to the three justices to influence verdict in his favour, Ripples Nigeria reports

The group, acccording to our source claimed that the deal was brokered by First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, using her relationship with the governor to secure victory for him.

Their position was contained in a statement obtained by journalists on Sunday in Abuja entitled: “Kogi Governorship Tribunal & Crooks On The Bench”, and signed by the President of KPF, Babatunde Matani; Secretary-General, Ms. Ojonoka Mathew and Public Relations Officer, Oiza Sule.

While expressing surprise that a State government which has been unable to pay salaries of workers for the past eight months could afford to allegedly “bribe tribunal judges for selfish reasons”, KPF threatened to take up the matter with the National Judicial Council (NJC).

But in his reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Bello, Kingsley Fanwo, dismissed the allegation saying those behind it were out for mischief and blackmail.

The KPF statement reads in part: “Our attention has been reliably drawn to the fact that the three justices have been settled with N1.5 billion by Governor Yahaya Bello in order to pervert the course of justice. The largesse has been shared at N500 million.

“Our investigations reveal that the money has been paid in foreign currency, while the justices have assured the governor that they will deliver judgment in his favour. We have reliably learnt that the First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, brokered the deal, using her relationship with Yahaya Bello, who is already boasting of victory and celebrating over judgment that has not been delivered.

“We intend to complain to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for this fraudulent, dubious and unprofessional crooks on the Nigerian Bench which we consider tantamount to the commercialisation of the peoples mandate. The KPF sees this as a travesty of justice and an affront on legality.

“We have our facts and we are imploring members of the public, media, civil society organisations and the intelligentsia to go ahead and carry out their independent investigation of this scam. The KPF will come out very soon with facts to open another can of worms.”

But Fanwo in dismissing the group said the governor of Kogi State would not have reacted to the allegation “if not for the calculated attempt at blackmailing the judiciary by mercenaries hired for a hatchet job.”

He said, “The Governor of Kogi State is a believer in the independence of the judiciary. What is on trial is the electoral process leading to the emergence of the Governor and not the judiciary. The parties to the case have defended their positions and the judiciary should be allowed to adjudicate. Those who have approached the tribunal to challenge the victory of the Governor should have faith in the temple of justice.

“Mounting a campaign of calumny against the institution they have approached for justice is a vindication of our conviction that they are only misinforming the unsuspecting public to whip up negative sentiments.

“The allegations are laughable, untrue, malicious and illogical. We urge Kogi people to continue to support Governor Yahaya Bello to take Kogi State to higher heights. The Governor is a big stakeholder in the Kogi project. He has never represented any other constituency apart from this state and therefore will not subscribe to those who want a contentious baby shared”, he said.

Credit: Ripples Nigeria