Presidency moves against Gov Lamido

The might of the federal authorities appears to be descending heavily from many sides on Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, one of the most daring of the rebel G7 governors behind the new PDP.What is now considered the most direct shot at Governor Lamido came yesterday with the arrest of his two sons – Mustapha […]

The might of the federal authorities appears to be descending heavily from many sides on Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, one of the most daring of the rebel G7 governors behind the new PDP.
What is now considered the most direct shot at Governor Lamido came yesterday with the arrest of his two sons – Mustapha and Aminu – by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly laundering over N10 billion.
Weekly Trust also learnt yesterday that at least three officials of Unity Bank have been in custody of State Security Services Officials (SSS) for the last five days. Dependable sources named the officials as Yusuf Khalifa, a Deputy General Manager; Balarabe Garba, a manager and one Chidiebere, a Compliance Officer.
Their arrest follows the confiscation of documents from the bank relating to accounts of Jigawa State government.
Earlier, five officials of Fidelity Bank were also arrested by the SSS on matters relating to investigations on Jigawa State accounts held by the bank. Sources say that staff of two other banks are also being held in relation to the large scale investigation of Jigawa State finances. Other banks being mentioned are FCMB, Access Bank and Skye Bank
The concerned banks were not immediately available for comments last night.
Similarly, the presidency in a statement by Jonathan’s media aide Reuben Abati, reacted angrily to a statement credited to Governor Lamido where he was said to have told an Abuja based private radio station Vision FM that President Goodluck Jonathan has refused to act on information that a serving minister recently collected $250 million bribe from an oil firm.
Jonathan, in the statement, said at no time did Lamido inform him of such an alleged bribe and challenged the governor to publicly name the minister involved without delay and provide evidence to support his allegation.
The statement said while the Jonathan Presidency would continue to make corrupt public officials answerable for their actions, it would not succumb to harassment and blackmail by self-seeking politicians jostling for personal advantage.
According to him, the Presidency views “the patently bogus allegation reportedly made by the governor in a radio interview yesterday (Thursday) as an unacceptable and callous attempt to unjustly impugn the integrity of President Jonathan and cast aspersions on the seriousness of his administration’s efforts to curb corruption.
“We have noted with much regret, the grossly irresponsible, false and mischievous claim by the Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido that President Goodluck Jonathan has refused to act on information that a serving minister recently collected a bribe of $250 million from an oil company.
“The allegation and the claim by Alhaji Lamido that he informed President Jonathan of the acceptance of the huge bribe by an unnamed minister is absolutely without any foundation in fact or reality, because no such communication has ever taken place between them.
“We abhor Governor Lamido’s descent to the unscrupulous, reckless and thoughtless peddling of arrant falsehood in a puerile effort to score cheap political points against President Jonathan for personal and sectional political gains.
“In the event that he is unable to do so, he should be prepared to offer an unreserved apology to the President and Nigerians for his unwarranted and unjust effort to denigrate, disparage and malign the President and the Federal Government,”, Abati added.
It is not clear whether the governor’s recent media outburst where he made the damaging accusation of corruption in the federal cabinet is the first indication that the gloves are off in the long drawn shadow boxing between President Goodluck Jonathan and the rebel governors of which Sule Lamido is an outspoken member.
Meanwhile, Weekly Trust learnt that Mustapha Sule Jamido and Aminu Sule Lamido, sons of Jigawa State Governor, who were arrested by the EFCC at their residences in Kano for allegedly laundering over N10 billion have been brought to the EFCC head office in Abuja, where they are currently being quizzed.
EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, told Weekly Trust that the suspects are being investigated for allegedly laundering Jigawa State funds.
It started with the arrest of Aminu Lamido on December 12, 2012 for money laundering charges by the EFCC when undeclared 40,000 US dollars was found in his possession at the Aminu Kano Airport, a top EFCC source told Weekly Trust.
The EFCC source said the undeclared money triggered further investigation into the financial affairs of Aminu Lamido.
“Family companies had a collective and accumulative turnover of over N10 billion between 2007 and 2013,” the source alleged, noting that so far nine companies had been linked to the family with over 34   accounts in Nigerian banks.
“Investigations revealed that massive lodgments were received into these companies’ accounts from Jigawa State government accounts.
He said investigations show that Mustapha and Aminu are signatories of the accounts, including their father, who are directors of some of the companies at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The source listed the names of the   companies as: Bamaina Aluminium Limited, Bamaina Holdings Limited, Bamaina Company Nigeria Limited, Rawda Integrated Services Limited, Speeds International Limited and Saby Integrated Projects Limited.
Attempts to get the response of  Jigawa State governor failed.