The national body of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), has By OUR REPORTER
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says he never agreed to accept bribe from United States Congressman, Mr. William Jefferson to secure a business for him in Nigeria.
Speaking on Thursday, through the Atiku Campaign Organization, he described a media report that he agreed to accept bribe from the United States lawmaker as untrue and mischievous.
The statement quoted the former vice president, who left the country before the handing over date on May 29, as saying that the report was part of a sustained media campaign aimed at smearing his integrity. He said that the media report did not take into "cognizance of the import of the 94-page report of the American Jury on the Jefferson saga," adding: "It was also a condemnable selective reporting that stands logic and evidence on its heads to satisfy the malicious intentions of its sponsors."
Atiku said: "I have said for the umpteenth time that in my brief meeting with Congressman Jefferson, I neither solicited nor did the U.S. lawmaker offer me any material inducement for any assistance in respect of his business dealings in Nigeria
"The Grand Jury report cited by a national newspaper in its highly libelous publication yesterday (Wednesday) contained only an allegation by Jefferson that I had agreed to a share of the profit from his communications business in return for some assistance. This is totally untrue. Congressman Jefferson has proved to be a conman, who tried to use my name to milk his business partners of thousands of dollars he purportedly paid to Nigerian officials as bribes."
Atiku said that the report of the Jury clearly shows that he was an innocent public official who, in the discharge of his functions, was exposed to a man who continuously dropped his name before unsuspecting businessmen to swindle them.
He said that the report of the US Jury stated thus: ‘On or about July 18, 2005, following the meeting with Nigerian official A, Defendant Jefferson and CW traveled from Potomac, Maryland, to McLean Virginia where Defendant Jefferson, informed CW (co-operating witness), that, during his private meeting with Nigerian official A, Defendant Jefferson had offered, and Nigerian Official A had agreed to accept, a bribe in the form of a percentage of the profits generated by the Nigerian Joint Venture in exchange for Nigerian official A’s official assistance in securing necessary approvals from NITEL.’
The former vice president said that the media report omitted the second leg of Jefferson’s claim, which eventually proved Jefferson as dropping Atiku’s name to swindle the businessman who was accompanied by FBI operatives disguised as his friend. According to him, Jefferson had sought and collected $100,000 from the same "businessman" on the pretext that he was taking it to him. He said that the claim informed the search on the house of his wife on August 3, 2005 during which the so-called amount was not found.
"When FBI searched the house of Jefferson on August 3, 2005, $90,000 of the marked $100,000 was found secretly filed away in $10,000 parcels, wrapped in aluminum foil and hidden in the food freezer by Congressman Jefferson. It is therefore, inconceivable that an otherwise discerning newspaper will find the claims of Jefferson tenable even when hard evidence had clearly proved otherwise.
Atiku said that while he did not intend to go into the propriety of the actions of Congressman Jefferson in the matter, he wished "to draw attention to the fact that the iGate business venture, which started with Jefferson offering his assistance ended with him bringing at least five members of his family as directors, consultants or legal advisers to the company he was assisting.
"The 94-page Jury report was replete with instances of Jefferson making false claims to secure cash, stock and traveling expenses from the businessmen who eventually became suspicious.
"At the time the scam burst, Jefferson had collected about USD3.5million and several millions of stock and trips expenses to Ghana and Nigeria from the businessmen. Not less than seven of his companies had been dragged into the venture and five of his family members had become beneficiaries of the business initiative. Not one private benefit had been traced to Atiku. Not a dime of this amount was traced to Atiku by the FBI. It is evident that Atiku’s name had only become a veritable asset, which Jefferson used to swindle his victim.
"It is therefore, confounding that a national newspaper that had access to the entire 94-paged report chose to select paragraphs of Jefferson’s claims and ignored the hard evidence that shows that those claims are false and pretensions to swindle the businessmen.
"At a general level, it is inconceivable that Jefferson will seek to bribe me to extend a favour to a business in which my friend and that of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Otunba Oyewole Fasawe has interest.
"It is also of interest that contrary to the claims of the EFCC, the FBI did not find anything credible in its claims that public funds from Nigeria were involved in the whole transaction. And still on the EFCC report, does it make any sense that I will take bribe from Jefferson or anybody to facilitate a business in which I am alleged to be an investor by EFCC?"
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