What El-Rufai said about Court order granting EFFC powers to probe his alleged misappropriation of N32bn

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said that the report he tried to prevent the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from carrying out its functions was not true.

According to him, the recent ruling of Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court Abuja, on his alleged misappropriation of N32 billion realised from the sale of Federal Government properties when he was the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, was misreported.

The report had claimed that Nyako refused to stop the EFCC from investigating El-Rufai over the alleged offence.

The governor, however, said Nyako only reaffirmed an earlier court declaratory judgment in 2019, which cleared him of any corruption in the sale of the property.

A statement this weekend by his counsel, A.U Mustapha (SAN) said, “At no point did Malam Nasir El-Rufai seek to stop the EFCC from performing its statutory functions. He went to court in 2009 to defend his reputation against an EFCC that was leaking and smearing, not investigating.

‘’EFCC sustained a media campaign that N32bn was missing, compelling Malam El-Rufai to approach the court for a declaratory judgment which has since been given in his favour.”

El-Rufai’s counsel argued that a clarification became necessary because of “the false and abjectly misleading reportage of the judgment of the Hon. Justice Binta Murtala Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja delivered on 29th November 2019.”

The statement recalled that as Minister of FCT, El-Rufai allocated plots in Abuja to more than 27,000 Nigerians and presided over a transparent process that sold government houses and earned the Federal Government a whopping N32 billion.

El-Rufai’s counsel recalled that an intensely politicised EFCC had allowed itself to be persuaded into smearing people.

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He said, “No decent man would permit slurs on such a stellar record. Therefore, Malam Nasir El-Rufai approached the court and the court agreed with him that there are no missing N32 billion proceeds of the sale of government houses.

‘’The court also held that the proceeds of the sale of the government houses were properly accounted for and audited. He joined in the action the audit firm, the Central Bank and many other agencies, public and private.”

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