Atiku Wants PMB Probed Over Allegation 'Buhari Family Bought Etisalat, Keystone Bank'
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Atiku calls for investigation into allegations President Buhari’s family members co-own Etisalat Nigeria, Keystone Bank
The
presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party has demanded a
probe into the ownership of Etisalat Nigeria and Keystone Bank.
Mr
Abubakar, in a statement by a spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, said the
call was necessary “in view of reports that members of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s family now own substantial share in Etisalat Nigeria
which has an estimated $2 billion (about N727 billion at 360 per dollar)
of its estimated $20 billion global net worth.”
Read Mr Shaibu’s full statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES below.
The
Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku
Abubakar, has called on the appropriate authorities to urgently
institute a probe to unravel the hidden faces behind the new ownership
structure of multi-billion naira telecoms giant, Etisalat Nigeria, as
well as Keystone Bank.
In a statement issued in Abuja on
Wednesday, the Special Assistant to Atiku on Public Communication,
Phrank Shaibu, said such a probe was necessary in view of reports that
members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s family now own substantial share
in Etisalat Nigeria which has an estimated $2 billion (about N727
billion at 360 per dollar) of its estimated $20 billion global net
worth.
Atiku also expressed shock at reports from unimpeachable
sources that the first family now plays big in the nation’s financial
sector after acquiring mouthwatering shares in Keystone Bank with total
assets of $1.916 billion (equivalent to N307.5 billion) as well as
purchasing about ₦3 billion worth of shares in the new Pakistani Islamic
Bank.
“I know that last week was turbulent for President Buhari
and I apologise for adding to his woes, but as he is insistent on the
myth that he is spotless and anti-corrupt, If this is found to be true,
this scandal would break every rule of corporate and public governance,
since this will be the first time members of the first family will be
openly involved in a once-in-a-lifetime deal that would make them all
richer beyond their wildest dreams,” the statement said.
The
accusation is coming amidst reported allegations in the media that the
All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government plans to use
billions of Naira from the Anchor Borrowers Programme allocated by the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for farmers, using imaginary donations
from 12 million farmers as a façade.
But the presidential
candidate of the PDP advised President Buhari to shun the use of state
resources and machinery for the upcoming 2019 presidential poll.
Specifically,
Atiku said no farmer contributed any N1.7billion for Buhari’s
re-election campaign, warning that APC’s decision to use monies meant
for farmers to run his campaign is not tidy at all.
“The
other day, a man who scored 15,424,921 votes to win the 2015 general
election was reported to have been nominated by 14 million APC members
at the Presidential primaries for 2019. Now, over 12 million farmers
have donated to his campaign. Are they indirectly spewing out outrageous
figures of people they intend to claim voted for them in the coming
elections? Could that be why the President was flashing an occult double
four hand signal that has gone viral?What did the hand signal mean?
Does it mean that the President has jettisoned the idea of a free and
fair election and telling Nigerians that no matter how they vote, he
will return for a second term of four years? In any case , if the
farmers who just took a loan through the borrowers anchor programme and
have not liquidated the facility can donate this huge sum or any sum for
that matter, it means the ‘Association of widows and children of all
those slain by Boko Haram and herdsmen will donate N5billion to the
Buhari campaign. In fact, the 23.1 million youth who lost their jobs
between 2016 till date will donate about N12billion to the Buhari
campaign.”
“Assuming but not even conceding that such a huge sum
of money was donated to President Buhari by Nigerian farmers as his
handlers would want Nigerians to believe, wouldn’t such donation be in
contravention of Section 91 (9)of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended)
which says no individual or other entity shall donate more than N1m to
an aspirant or a candidate,” Atiku said.
Section 91 (2) of the Electoral Act further states that a presidential candidate can spend a maximum of N1billion.
The
law also recommends a fine of N1m or a prison term of 12months or both
for any candidate that breaches the provisions of the Act.
‘We
have no stand on whether or not President Buhari should run for office.
That is his prerogative and that of his party. But we believe it is
improper for public office holders to forcefully loot public funds, on
behalf of a sitting president seeking a second term in office.
‘’What this means is that there is a ‘war chest’ which apparently is from the national coffers,’’ Atiku said.
He
said if President Buhari wants to run for office next year, he should
take only from monies sourced from donations by his campaign groups that
are independent of government.
‘’Anything short of that – as is
currently the case with the use of funds from the CBN meant for farmers
will mean there will be no level playing field for all the candidates
billed to contest for the presidency during next year’s presidential
elections,’’ Atiku said.
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