EFCC arrests Atiku’s finance director

Atiku Abubakar GCON 

ABUJA- Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has assured Nigerians that under no circumstance will he mortgage the mandate of Nigerians as freely expressed in the February ,23rd, 2019 Presidential election. Atiku Abubakar GCON 

assurance comes against the backdrop of the alleged invasion and arrest of Alhaji Babalele Abdullahi, son in-law and finance director of his (Atiku) group of companies in Abuja on Saturday.

 In a statement issued by the Media Adviser to the PDP candidate, Paul Ibe, Atiku’s said Babalele’s ordeal was part of moves to cajole him into congratulating President Muhammadu Buhari who was declared re-elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. 

The statement added that operatives of the anti-graft agency were not given access into the house until his (Babalele) lawyers arrived. “The EFCC agents numbering about two dozen came in 2 regular vehicles, an 18-seater Toyota bus (registration Abuja CS 522 RSH) and a hilux van.

 “They came with a search warrant to search the house and office of Babalele and found nothing incriminating “They then proceeded to his office at Oakland Centre in Maitama and found nothing incriminating there.

 “However, they took away some documents of landed property. Not done, the EFCC officials stormed his Wuse residence where they again found nothing incriminating after the search “Afterwards, Babalele was taken away to the EFCC office in Wuse to make a statement alongside Mr. Lawan Ayuba,” the statement read. 

The statement added that Atiku “recognizes the constitutional role of the EFCC and indeed any other agency of the government to carry out investigations, but will not be cowed by any attempt to blackmail him into mortgaging his mandate.”