Posted by By Daniel Alabrah on
The apex Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to get to the bottom of the ‘Africa for Obama' dinner fund it is currently investigating.
The apex Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to get to the bottom of the ‘Africa for Obama' dinner fund it is currently investigating.
The group claimed there were elements of ‘419' (fraud) in the fundraiser organized by Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Prof Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, which reportedly yielded about N100 million.
Speaking in a telephone interview, the Afenifere national publicity secretary, Mr Yinka Odumakin, wondered why somebody was allegedly presented at the dinner as a representative of the United States' Democratic Party presidential candidate, Mr Barack Obama, when indeed Obama nor his party were not aware of the event.
'The EFCC should get to the bottom of the matter and find out what the amount generated was used for. To tell you that she (Okereke-Onyiuke) had other motives, she presented somebody at the dinner as Obama's representative from South Africa. This means she had ulterior motives and the element of ‘419' had been introduced,' he said.
Odumakin further said that by her past activities, she was unduly dragging the stock exchange into politics when she should be concerned about the dwindling fortunes of listed companies.
'She has carried her unpalatable activities too far. After all she did in Nigeria when (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo was in power, she has decided to export her activities to the U.S.
'Now that the law is about catching up with her, one expected that she would be sober. But she is not. Rather she is arrogant and continues to insist that she had the right to do what she liked with her money and time,' the Afenifere image-maker said.
The NSE boss was quizzed by the EFCC on Wednesday following a petition sent by a Lagos-based legal practitioner, Mr Festus Keyamo, over the dinner/concert she organized on August 11, purportedly to raise fund for Obama's presidential campaign.
The Obama campaign organization has, however, disowned the group and its activities.