Posted by From Bolaji Adebiyi in Abuja on
The Presidency yesterday asked the Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to concentrate more on defence of allegation of money laundering leveled against him by the British police in London instead of accusing President Olusegun Obasanjo of victimizing him.
The Presidency yesterday asked the Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to concentrate more on defence of allegation of money laundering leveled against him by the British police in London instead of accusing President Olusegun Obasanjo of victimizing him.
Reacting to the governor's insistence, in a national newspaper interview published yesterday, that his travail in London was the handiwork of the President who was vilifying him for political reasons, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said Alamieyeseigha's claim was a mere subterfuge that was meant to becloud the substantive issue of his involvement in corrupt practices.
'The allegation that he is being politically victimized is an old story that should not be dignified with a response," he said, explaining that the President was determined to deal with anyone found to be corrupt irrespective of his status in the country.
The governor, who is currently restricted to London by a London court for alleged money laundering, in an interview published by a national newspaper yesterday alleged among other things that he was being punished for his support for Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and accused the Federal Government of plotting to assassinate him. He also said in his effort to nail him, the President descended so low to grant audience to British police constable that came to Nigeria to investigate the case.
But Fani-Kayode said Alamieyeseigha's accusations were far off the mark, contending that they were wild. 'The allegation that the President wants to assassinate him is far-fetched and ridiculous. This is not a banana republic and neither is Mr. President a killer," he said.
According to the presidential assistant, the governor's claim that the fight against corruption was selective was the stereotype of corrupt persons who were out to discredit the battle against graft.