Posted by By MOSHOOD ADEBAYO, Abeokuta on
Finance Minster during the military administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and a childhood friend of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Onaolapo Soleye, has said that he knew nothing about the Wilbros bribery scandal.
Finance Minster during the military administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and a childhood friend of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Onaolapo Soleye, has said that he knew nothing about the Wilbros bribery scandal.
Soleye an indigene of Owu in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State was mentioned among other Nigerians as beneficiaries of the $6mllion bribe which officials of Wilbros, an American company operating in Nigeria claimed they gave to top Nigerian officials, icluding chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former Minister who spoke with Saturday Sun on telephone in Abeokuta said it would be pre-judicial for him to make any official comment on the allegation now.
His words: "For now, let's maintain "siddon look" approach so that one will not be seen as trying to block the investigations which the Federal Government has promised into the allegation.
"I will not speak to you know, but I promise you that when the time is ripe for me to do so, you will not be left out. It is a promise.
The one time Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Bell University of Technology (BUT), Ota, which is believed to be owned by ex-President Obasanjo insisted that the allegation was a ruse.
"I know nothing about the allegation. I think some people have agenda which I don't understand. Although I know nothing about the allegation, If I talk now, people may say I'm trying to stall investigation.
"Let's allow those who are charged with the responsibility of investigating do their work and later, I will state my own side of the story. It is a promise. With God on my side, I know I would get out of this national disgrace because it is the handiwork of my detractors.
Meanwhile former President Obasanjo has stoutly defended the Owu, his kinsmen, saying that no Owu indigene could be found stealing or involved in any act of corruption.
Obasanjo who spoke last Saturday during the 16th National Owu Convention which held at the Gateway Secondary School, Abeokuta, however admitted that Owu are inherently stubborn.
"Owu as a people are honest and hardworking. If you see any Owu man involving in any criminal or shady deals, ask his mother about his true paternity. But you can see an Owu being stubborn. It is an inherent thing in us", he told the gathering which included the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Bola Ajibola.