The United States of America, USA, has on Tuesday, July 12, reacted to the allegations made by the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, over the involvement of Aisha Buhari, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, in the $185 million Halliburton scandal.
The US Government through its acting Public Affairs Officer, Consulate General in Lagos State, Frank Sellin, told PUNCH, on Tuesday, that it has no information on the alleged crimes committed by President Buhari’s wife.
This has come as a surprise to many Nigerians, especially the Ekiti State Governor’s followers, who have joined him in asserting the the wife of the President must make a trip to the US, to prove her innocence, if she indeed was not involved in the said scandal.
The controversy started when Fayose, distributed a link from the U.S. Department of Justice’s website, holding court documents, where the wife of President Buhari, was alleged to have transferred suspicious funds to a convicted former American Congressman, Williams Jefferson.
While reacting to the freezing of his Zenith Bank accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Fayose, claimed that the wife of the President was a wanted person in America.
“Even the President cannot claim to be an angel. The estate he built in Abuja is known to us. His wife was indicted in 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”, Fayose, repeatedly claimed in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi.
He said Aisha, refused to travel with the President to the US, because of her involvement in the scandal.
However, Sellin, in response to an enquiry made by PUNCH, regarding allegations that the President’s wife, was wanted in the US and was avoiding travelling to the country said: “Thank you for the inquiry. We have no information to provide on this matter”.
Recall, that the President’s wife had earlier given Fayose a five-day ultimatum, for him to apologise for linking her to the American Congressman, William Jefferson’s bribery scandal, of which the US Lawmaker was convicted in 2009.
Mrs Buhari, through her lawyers, Ismaila Alasa and Mary Ekpere, had described Fasoye’s allegation as, “very wild and unfounded”, as well as threatened to drag the Governor to court, if the statement was not retracted within five working days.
In response, Fayose’s Special Assistant on New Media, Lere Olayinka said; “We owe nobody apology for the allegation. They can go ahead to institute court action against Fayose. But one thing is clear; Aisha Buhari does not have the liver to step into the United States. If she dares it, I am assuring you, she will be whisked away”.
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