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We didn’t arraign Atiku over alleged N75.3bn fraud —EFCC
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday dismissed a report that it has filed corruption charges in court against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over alleged N75.3 billion fraud.
The Commission said in a statement issued by its acting Head of Media and Publicity, Tony Orilade, that the report was fake and put together by elements with ulterior motives.
The statement read: “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been drawn to an online report which claimed that the Commission on Thursday, January 9, 2020 arraigned former Vice President Atiku Abubakar before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court, Ikeja, Lagos for an alleged fraud of N75.3 billion and wishes to state categorically that nothing of such took place.
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“The Commission also wishes to state that no statement or press release emanated from the spokesperson of the Commission, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren to that effect as claimed in the report, nor was there any involvement of any sort from the Commission’s prosecutor, Joy Amahian in the imaginary arraignment. The story remains the authors’ imagination and fake news.
“The Commission, therefore, urges the general public to disregard the fake news as the handiwork of mischief makers.”
The EFCC had last year arraigned the ex-vice president’s son-in-law, Abdullahi Babalele, over alleged money laundering.
The EFCC accused Babalele of allegedly laundering about $140,000 in the build-up to the 2019 general elections.
In the charge, the Commission accused the defendant of “procuring one Mohammed to make a cash payment of the sum of $140,000 without going through any financial institution.”
The said money, according to the EFCC exceeded the threshold stipulated by the Money laundering Act
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