Fani-Kayode reacts to Nigerian government’s inclusion of his name on looters’ list

Former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has said he is not surprised that his name has been included in the latest list of looters released by the presidency on Sunday.

In a statement sent to DAILY POST on Monday, Fani-Kayode insisted that he has not been convicted by any court of law.

He labelled the allegations as “nonsensical and utterly shameful”, while calling President Muhammadu Buhari’s government “weak”.

The statement read: “It has been brought to my attention that my name was placed in what the Federal Government of Nigeria describes as its “looters list”.

“I wish to make it abundatly clear that this is nonsensical and utterly shameful and I hereby reiterate the fact that I am totally innocent of any wrongdoing.

“The fact of the matter is that no “looters list” is complete without the names of Muhammadu Buhari, Yemi Osinbajo, Rotimi Ameachi, Tunde Fashola, Bola Tinubu, Lai Mohammed, Adamu Abdullahi, Dambazau, Kayode Fayemi, Babachir Lawal, Maina, Maikanto Baru, Burutai, all APC Governors and other key members of the Buhari administration and the APC.

The Federal Government claims that I “looted” 800,000,000 naira from government coffers. This is false.

“I did not receive and neither was I ever given one kobo by any government official, government agency or government parastatal during President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure.

“The money that I received was given to me by the Director of Finance of the Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Mrs. Esther Nenadi Usman, before the election in 2015 and it was specifically for the conduct of the Presidential election.

“I was Director of Media and Publicity of the Campaign Organisation and it was used specifically and solely for the running and conducting of the media and publicity aspect of the election.

Mrs. Usman, who was Minister of Finance during the Obasanjo government, was neither a member of the Jonathan government and neither did she manage, handle or touch any government funds in her capacity as Director of Finance of the Jonathan campaign.

“The money she made available to me came from a private company account which was used to house contributions made to the Jonathan campaign by party supporters after a series of fundraising event.

“These were private funds and not public funds and neither can anyone expect us to have run an election in 2015 without any money. You do not run election campaigns with sand but with money.

“It is common knowledge that the Buhari campaign in 2015 was funded by moneys that can be traced directly to the state governments of Rivers state, Lagos state, Kano state, Ogun state and a number of other key APC states yet not one of those involved or that governed any of those states at the time have been questioned, arrested or prosecuted by the EFCC or the Federal Government.

“It is also common knowledge that President Buhari himself was offered and received several benefits and received money from the office of the former National Security Advisor, Col. Sambo Dasuki, yet nothing has been done about this.