Politics
Atiku laments continued detention of his lawyer, son-in-law
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate has decried the continued detention of his lawyer and son-in-law by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The former Vice President expressed his grouse over the development in a message on his official Twitter handle on Monday.
He wrote; “My son-in-law and lawyer have been detained, one for 3 weeks and the other recently. They are paying the price for supporting me. I urge those now persecuting them to remember that a government’s mandate is to pursue peace and justice for all, and not just those who support them.”
The arrest of Atiku’s son-in-law, Alhaji Babalele Abdullahi by the EFCC was made known in a statement by the Media Adviser to the PDP candidate, Paul Ibe.
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In the statement Ibe said; “Babalele’s ordeal was part of moves to cajole Atiku into congratulating President Muhammadu Buhari who was declared re-elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC of the presidential election.”
According to Ibe, the EFCC operatives were not given access into the house until Babalele’s lawyers arrived.
“The EFCC agents numbering about two dozen came in 2 regular vehicles, an 18-seater Toyota bus (registration Abuja CS 522 RSH) and a hilux van.
“They came with a search warrant to search the house and office of Babalele and found nothing incriminating
“They then proceeded to his office at Oakland Centre in Maitama and found nothing incriminating there.
“However, they took away some documents of landed property. Not done, the EFCC officials stormed his Wuse residence where they again found nothing incriminating after the search.
“Afterwards, Babalele was taken away to the EFCC office in Wuse to make a statement alongside Mr. Lawan Ayuba,” the statement read.
The statement added that Atiku “recognizes the constitutional role of the EFCC and indeed any other agency of the government to carry out investigations, but will not be cowed by any attempt to blackmail him into mortgaging his mandate.
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