Shittu: There Were Lots of Manipulations, Sham Approvals by Persons Close to Buhari

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

A former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, yesterday, provided an insight into the level of impunity that typified the Muhammadu Buhari administration, saying there were lots of manipulations and fraudulent approvals under the government.

Shittu, who spoke yesterday on a television programme monitored in Abuja, served as a minister under the Buhari government but believed many persons close to the former president manipulated things to their favour, and plunged the country’s economy into a downward slide.

“Let me tell you, there were a lot of manipulations and we even heard that a lot of the so-called approvals did not emanate from President Buhari,” he said on yesterday’s edition of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily monitored, while responding to comments that the previous government was printing money to run the economy.

“There were a lot of manipulations and fraudulent approvals which did not emanate from President Buhari. I am telling you confidently that a lot of it did not get his attention.

“There were a lot of people around the president who exploited their relationship with the President and conspired with the then-CBN governor,” he said.

Shittu’s claims corroborated that of presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, who said many approvals for releasing funds within the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Godwin Emefiele did not have Buhari’s signature.

“President Bola Tinubu has come out several times in fairness to him (Buhari), to say, ‘Look, this is what happened under the previous administration’.

“I think we have to acknowledge the fact that he (Tinubu) understands more than anyone that many of the approvals within the CBN that brought us to this point have no signature to President Muhammadu Buhari and had no knowledge of President Muhammadu Buhari,” Ngelale said.

Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Emefiele as the CBN governor. However, upon assumption of office in 2015, Buhari retained him as the apex bank’s boss.

He was removed in June and is being tried for charges bordering on corruption.

Shittu, therefore, wanted Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to wade into the matter and “probe properly”, adding: “I hope the EFCC will probe properly as to how these things happened without the president knowing.”