Corruption Allegation Against Abba Kyari, Hinged On Fiction – Presidency

The Presidency has described the allegation of corruption against President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Mr Abba Kyari as “fiction”.

Punch newspaper had reported that the President’s right-hand man collected a 29 million naira bribe for the award of a contract.

The Presidency also said the supply of 15 Hilux vehicles for the Presidency reported by Punch, was an unlikely contract to have been awarded, as it did not exist anywhere in the 2016 and 2017 budgets.

In a statement released on Saturday night via its Twitter handle @NGRPresident, the Presidency said looking through the appropriation for 2016 and 2017, the request for the supply of 15 Hilux vehicles for the Presidency was not included, wondering how Kyari could have asked for money to award a contract that did not exist anywhere at all.

The Presidency noted that Punch was notified of the various falsehoods contained in the allegations but still went ahead to publish the “weak accusations”, noting that the newspaper should be prepared to face Kyari in court.

The statement reads in full: “The Presidency takes strong offence to the improbable and outlandish publication by @MobilePunch Newspaper today (Saturday) in a dig at presidential aide Abba Kyari who was alleged to have collected a 29 million naira bribe for the award of a contract.

“We wish to state with full authority that the allegation is false and the Chief of Staff did not have any private meetings with the person making those allegations.

“What is even more surprising is the decision by the newspaper to run the cooked-up lies despite obvious loopholes in the story, such as the Bureau of Public Procurement’s denial that a major source for the story was a member of their staff.

“With a slew of crucial elections ahead, some politicians and their media agents appear to be working together to build pressure on the Buhari administration by wielding non-existent scandals against it.

“We equally note that the supply of 15 Hilux vehicles for the Presidency was an unlikely contract to have been awarded, as it did not exist anywhere in the 2016 and 2017 budgets.

“Looking through the Appropriation for 2016 and 2017, the request for the supply of 15 Hilux vehicles for the Presidency is not included. How then could COS Abba Kyari have asked for money to award a contract that did not exist anywhere at all?

“Once again, we wish to caution against the media’s haste to publish unverified accusations against government officials simply for the sensationalism value, without journalists doing the due diligence required of them by their profession.

“The Punch was notified of the various falsehoods contained in the allegations but still went ahead to publish the weak accusations. They should be prepared to face Abba Kyari in court,” the statement added.