BEVERLY HILLS, June 21, (THEWILL) – THEWILL can authoritatively report that Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, lied deliberately against the President’s wife, Mrs Aisha Buhari by claiming she was indicted in the Halliburton scandal
Fayose, according to a press release by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Idowu Adelusi, spoke to reporters in Ado-Ekiti, on Monday, in reaction to the alleged blocking of his bank account, which he operates with Zenith Bank Plc, by The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He declared that the President cannot claim to be an angel revealing that the estate he (the President) built in Abuja is known to him (Fayose), and that the President’s wife was indicted over the Halliburton Scandal.
“Even the President cannot claim to be an angel. The estate he built in Abuja is known to us. His wife was indicted over the Halliburton Scandal. When that American, Jefferson, was being sentenced, the President’s wife was mentioned as having wired $170,000 to Jefferson. Her name was on page 25 of the sentencing of Jefferson. We can serialize the judgment for people to see and read,” he said.
However, checks by THEWILL reveal that the ‘Aisha Buhari’ bandied by Fayose has no links whatsoever with the President.
A 2007 report by the NYTIMES on the matter clearly show that this Ms Buhari, linked to the Halliburton scandal, is neither the President’s wife nor daughter.
According to the report, ‘Ms. Buhari’ claimed to be working for Victor Attah, former Governor of Akwa Ibom state, who had asked her to look for consultants and lawyers who could help him pressure oil companies like Exxon Mobil to clean up pollution in the Nigerian state.
She met a Mr. Assiba, who was scouting investors for his own African projects and had been introduced earlier to Richard T. Hines. The lobbyist, Mr. Assiba told Ms. Buhari, was just the man Mr. Attah needed.
Attah and Mr. Hines came to terms and the Nigerian official agreed in the late summer of 2005 to pay him $1.2 million for a year’s work.
According to the contract and lobbying records, Mr. Hines’s duties included meetings with government officials in Washington seeking aid for Akwa Ibom, finding companies and investors to come to the Nigerian state, and publicizing its economic opportunities.
“Despite the large amount of money that Mr. Attah paid Mr. Hines, the politician said he never looked into the backgrounds of either the lobbyist or the associates who followed Mr. Hines to Nigeria. If he had, he might have found that some of those associates had interesting backgrounds. In fact, a few of them had already been in Africa the year before — to seek work from another client of Mr. Hines, the government of the nearby nation of Gambia,” the report stated.
“As for Ms. Buhari, who is living in Virginia, it’s not clear who she really is. For one, she is under investigation in Nigeria by its Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said its head, Nuhu Ribadu.
“Ribadu said he is uncertain if her name is Aisha Buhari, but he added that she is not a daughter of General Buhari” adding that American authorities suspect that Ms. Buhari may have served as a financial conduit for the politician. Mr. Jefferson and also testified before a grand jury investigating the congressman, who is suspected of soliciting bribes from American companies seeking business in Nigeria.
Even the President had denied knowing or having a relationship with her.
“I don’t have any relationship with that Aisha Buhari,” Mr Buhari said. “I don’t have any daughter called Aisha Buhari living outside this country. She is not my daughter.”
One wonders why Fayose will deliberately ignore the facts and indict the Wife of the President over a matter that she isn’t involved with.
Story by David Oputah
