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Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki has reacted to comment made by the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) linking him to cyber-crime suspect, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, also known as, Hushpuppi.
Hushpuppi is facing criminal charges in the US for “conspiring to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from Business Email Compromise (BEC) frauds and other scams, including schemes targeting a U.S. law firm, a foreign bank and an English Premier League soccer club”.
If convicted of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, the self-acclaimed Instagram influencer would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The APC however called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and other sister agencies to investigate reports linking some PDP leaders and financiers to the Dubai-based international criminal ring.
“That the PDP leadership turned Dubai into their “Strategic” meeting place ahead of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria and “Hushpuppi’s” affinity with the PDP leadership is not mere coincidence,” the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena said in a statement on Saturday.
“At different times, “Hushpuppi” was been photographed in Dubai meeting with the PDP’s 2019 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; former Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; Dino Melaye among other PDP stalwarts.”
But reacting, Senator Saraki described the APC’s statement as irresponsible, stating that the party is playing dirty and cheap politics.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the former Senate President noted that the ruling party was silent when Hushpuppi was openly displaying wealth, the APC-led government did nothing but kept mute.
He said he was the only one who wrote an op-ed article to condemn the act.
Saraki further called on the ruling party to rather compel its Deputy National Publicity Secretary to desist from making and circulating such “malicious, odious and offensive claims.”
The statement reads: “The statement credited to the APC, the ruling party in our country, is one of the ways by which our anti-graft agencies are weakened and why the fight against corruption in the country is often viewed with suspicion by the international community.
“This is because when these cyber-crime suspects were operating freely and openly displaying wealth, the APC saw nothing bad in their activities.
“Also, the party at that time did not deem it necessary to call on the anti-graft agencies to investigate their activities.
“Also, since the arrest of those cybercrime suspects and the subsequent damage to the image and the economy of Nigeria as well as the crisis it created for Nigerians engaged in lawful businesses across the world, the ruling party had been muted (sic).
“The only time the APC deemed it necessary to make a statement was when it thought it should play dirty, cheap and irresponsible politics.
“Dr. Saraki was the only political leader who has publicly made a statement through an Op-Ed article published in the Daily Trust newspaper of July 1, 2020 titled ‘Cyber Criminals: Confronting The Few Who Dent Many.’
“At this point, we call on the APC leadership to rein in the so-called Yekini Nabena and compel him to desist from making and circulating such malicious, odious and offensive claims.”
