Auwal Abdullahi in the News Again

Things indeed are happening in Nigeria that very few people are aware of. While the group of disadvantaged people known collectively as the Masses are busy stressing their minds and friendships with who will be president in 2023, the more focused people are busy planning to acquire big businesses. Like Auwal Abdullahi, the son-in-law of Ibrahim Babangida. If the word on the media waves is true, then it is Abdullahi who will soon become the proud owner of Polaris Bank.

To begin with, very little is known to the general public about Abdullahi compared to what is known about his father-in-law. This is not strange at all until one realizes that he holds the prestigious title of Sarkin Sudan Gombe in Gombe State. Therefore, his name should echo from the Northwest to the Middlebelt. But it does not. Because he is a private person. And yet, this rumoured deal with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is guaranteed to make Abdullahi something of a town square topic.

According to the reports which have not been confirmed by the related authorities, CBN is intending to sell Polaris Bank to Abdullahi for roughly N40 billion. This is no big deal, except that there are people who are saying that the apex bank rescued the bank with about N1.2 trillion. Thus, in selling the bank to Abdullahi for N40 billion, Nigeria loses 97 per cent of its money and gains an old bank sold to one of her lesser-known sons.

People are complaining not because the deal is a bad one but because it has not been made public. In fact, even though it reportedly has the presidential seal of approval, the powers that be have allegedly stifled every report concerning it, at least, until the transaction is finalised.

One can only say that Abdullahi is a very lucky man. Once a commercial farmer, he became well-known after his heavily attended wedding ceremony to Halima, Babangida’s daughter and last child in 2017. No doubt, the Sarkin Sudan Gombe is now a public spectacle with this rumoured transaction with the CBN. Who knows what the future holds for him?