By The rumour mill then shifted attention to one of the foremost and frontline Ministers in President Buhari’s Government and a vociferous champion of the anti-corruption campaign, Rotimi Amaechi the Minister of Transport. Linked by satanic rumours with the vivacious Television presenter and media entrepreneur, Mo Abudu it is alleged that Amaechi owns the property and the money found in them. It is claimed that this is so because he bought two properties and gave one to his friend Mo Abudu. Mo Abudu has also issued a Press release in which she vehemently refutes the allegation that she is involved in a relationship with Amaechi or that she owns the flat in which the money was found.
Given my close relationship with Amaechi, I called him to ask about the story particularly as the Governor of Rivers State has claimed that the money belongs to his State. The State Government claims that the money was diverted funds from the sale of the State’s Gas Turbines to Sahara Energy for the price of US$319 Million. Amaechi’s reaction was one of incredulity.
As he told me, “Bob Dee, you know that I have always told you I am not rich. How would I have access to that kind of money and look you in the face and say that!”
In short, Amaechi denied anything to do with the money and told me that he knew the game his detractors were playing and that he would leave them to their conscience. I thought that he felt resigned to the fact that as one of the Poster Boys of this administration and his unflinching support for the President from the electioneering era till now, he was bound to be subjected to this kind of buffeting and earth-shattering allegations. Amaechi would never be forgiven by the PDP who believe that he sacked them from power because of the initial position he took at the Governor’s Forum which led to the fatal schism in the PDP.
To compound the matter and deepen the mystery, social media went agog with the news that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) had claimed that the money was part of its operational funds which it had kept in the flat that it was using as a safe house in Lagos and that everything went through due process. It is unclear as yet whether this report is true or not but certainly, the plot thickens.
May the soul of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti continue to rest in peace. He had a song for everything, on different occasions. One of my favourite was “Unknown Soldier.” The song practically portrayed the inability of our government to unravel any major act of crime and the penchant for blaming it on unknown people, as if Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) descended regularly on our shores to wreak havoc. Fela’s song was so poignant and unforgettable. As I received the news of the huge sums of dollars being busted in some people’s homes and offices in Nigeria, my mind flashed back to Fela and how he would have composed a song titled UNKNOWN LANDLORDS.
Believe me, our country is super unique. Where else can anyone keep about $50 Million US Dollars in raw cash? The mere sight of that would have made regular people to faint, collapse and probably die instantly but not here. When God created us, he installed a certain shock-absorber in us that makes it impossible for us to shake or panic in the face of horrendous encounters.
