The presidency has reacted with dismay to an allegation published by Punch Newspaper that the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, collected N
The presidency has reacted with dismay to an allegation published by Punch Newspaper that the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, collected N29 million bribe for the award of a contract for the supply of 15 Hilux vehicles. Reacting to the allegation in a statement, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, described the allegation as offensive, saying Kyari never had any private meeting with those making the allegation. Shehu said the allegation appeared to be coming from certain persons whose interest was to blackmail the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as 2019 drew closer.
In his own reaction, Kyari stated, “There is no iota of truth whatsoever, even in dreamland, in this malicious story. No amount of mud will stick, or stain my integrity. I have instructed my lawyers to take legal action against all those who have peddled this falsehood. We cannot allow reasoned and reasonable debate to be hijacked by the frenzied fantasies of a cynical and dishonest minority. A lie becomes no less of a lie simply by repetition. I will continue to ensure that business-as-usual is unsustainable, ask questions and question answers – in the interest of our country, above any other consideration.”
Shehu also described the allegation as a fiction, saying the contract did not exist in 2016/2017 budgets, arguing that N29 million bribe allegation against a man who turned down N200 million imprest accrued to the office in the past was misplaced.
