Again, Metuh Denies Receiving N1.4 billion from ONSA
Fayose Challenges Buhari to Charge or Release him
The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh did not receive N1.4 billion or N4 million monthly stipends from the Office of the former National Security Adviser.
Also, in reaction to the allegation, the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to charge Metuh to court if the commission was sure of evidences of fraud against him.
A statement denying the allegation against Metuh was issued by his Special Assistant, Richard Ihediuwa, saying some "apparently sponsored reports in some section of the media have been dropping figures and falsely claiming that Chief Olisa Metuh got the sum of N1.4 billion in addition to receiving N4 million monthly stipends from the Office of the former National Security Adviser.
"These reports are completely false, mischievous and fabricated to mislead the public and derail the course of proper investigation on issues relating to Metuh.
"For the avoidance of doubt, neither Metuh nor his office received the figures being bandied. We therefore challenge the EFCC to substantiate that Metuh received the said N1.4 billion figure as well as make public any evidence that he ever received N4 million monthly stipends from the Office of the National Security Adviser.”
Ihediuwa said the PDP Publicity office has deeply worried at the turnout of events since Tuesday when Metuh was arrested and detained, adding that fictitious figures have continued to be bandied against him in the media.
"Metuh, as a well-known citizen and a public figure had always stated his readiness to honour any invitation by the EFCC or any agency of government for that matter on any issue regarding any allegations against him.
"This office is therefore persuaded that the continued detention of Metuh is ostensibly part of the plot by the APC to silence or keep the opposition spokesperson out of circulation for obvious reasons of clipping the wings of the opposition PDP," he said.
According to Fayose, “the EFCC appears to be operating a system in which an accused person is first arrested, detained endlessly while the anti-corruption agency goes about looking for evidence.”
Fayose, who maintained his support for a genuine fight against corruption, challenged the EFCC to also act on petitions submitted to it against All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains and President Buhari’s election sponsors.
Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose cautioned that nothing untoward must happen to Metuh, adding that the APC’s desperation to decimate and silence the opposition has dragged the Buhari-led government in the mud of lawlessness.
The governor said, “In saner climes, you don’t arrest people for alleged fraud and start to look for evidence to prosecute them.
Rather, before you arrest anyone for fraud, anti-corruption agencies must have established a prima facie case and arresting the suspect will only be to enable for his or her arraignment in court.
“However, what we are witnessing in Nigeria today is a situation whereby the EFCC will arrest PDP leaders, humiliate them by subjecting them to media trial, detain them for weeks in the process of trying to force them to make statements during which the commission will be looking for evidence.
“For instance, in the case of Metuh, we are being told that the EFCC is insisting that he must write statements and one begins to wonder if it has now become mandatory for an accused to write statements in law enforcement agent’s custody. Shouldn’t the EFCC have simply charged Metuh to court based on its own evidence? Or is Metuh’s statement the evidence the EFCC requires to prosecute him?
“The international community, especially the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and others are put on notice on this condemnable act of arresting and detaining opposition leaders by agents of the Buhari-led government before fishing for evidence.”
While challenging President Buhari to extend his anticorruption crusade to those who sponsored his election, Governor Fayose said, “Any anti-corruption effort that targets only members of the opposition and those with axe to grind with the government of the day can never succeed.
“If President Buhari did not wait for any petition to move against PDP chieftains, asking people to come forward with allegations of corruption against APC chieftains, especially those who sponsored President Buhari’s election is clearly hypocritical.
“Most importantly, that the EFCC acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu even said the commission do not have any petition against APC chieftains when indeed there are loads of petitions against ministers serving in Buhari’s government and other notable APC chieftains goes to show the hypocrisy of the fight against corruption.
“It is even more hypocritical and anti-democratic for the President to have turned himself to the accuser, prosecutor and judge, carrying on as if those he accused of corruption have already been convicted,” the governor said.