How Buhari’s aide duped me of N29.9m – petitioner

A man who claimed to be a nephew of the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari has accused the CoS of scamming him of N29.9 million and also forced him to implicate an innocent policeman.

Bako Waziri Kyari on a radio programme on Human Rights Radio 101.1FM in Abuja at the weekend alleged that Kyari and Sani Ado, whom he claimed worked with the Bureau of Public Procurement, allegedly collected N29.9m from him in order to facilitate the award of a contract.

Bako who disclosed that he sent a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the matter, said Kyari asked him to pay Ado some money to facilitate the award of a contract to supply 15 Hilux vehicles to the presidential villa.

“All the money I transferred to Ado summed up to N29, 950,000. “The total contract was worth N300, 725,000. They promised me 30 per cent profit of the total contract which is about N94m.”

He added, “Some officials loyal to Abba Kyari refused to help me. I went to meet an official petitioner at Block C in the EFCC. He is very close to the acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu. The official asked me to bring the petition to him but by the time I got there, he had called Kyari to inform him of my presence.”

Bako said he quickly changed his mind and decided not to use the EFCC any longer. He, however, said friends from whom he borrowed money began to pester him.

He said a friend decided to report him to a policeman, DSP Tijani Bulama.

He added, “The policeman threatened to make the matter public, but the following day, men of the DSS stormed Tijani’s home and arrested him.

“While in detention, the policeman under duress, called me, asking me to meet him at Eagle Square. On getting there, men of the DSS arrested me and took me to their office. The DSS men asked if we had informed anyone and we said no.

“They took our statements and Abba Kyari later came to the DSS. He, however, refused to speak to me. The DSS officials forced me to lie that I gave the policeman N250, 000 to blackmail Abba Kyari but I refused. So they detained me for two weeks while the policeman was detained for a month.”

He said it was Kyari that asked the DSS to release him and promised that the matter was a family one and would be resolved internally.

The petitioner said he waited for another seven months but Kyari never paid him his money.

Reacting to the allegation, spokesperson for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the allegation was untrue, adding that the petition is being investigated.

He said any serious investigation takes time and it is presumptuous to conclude that the EFCC is non-committal simply because the petitioner did not receive instant result.