By 
Habeeb Ibrahim
A former Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Aderemi Adeoye, has denied claims that he proclaimed himself a billionaire and neglected his duties for business affairs during his tenure. In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Adeoye challenged those who accused him of making such claims to provide proof.
A senior journalist at ThisDay Newspaper, Olusegun Adeniyi had written an article stating, “Adeoye is a billionaire commissioner… By his own admission, his net worth is now N20 billion! And he has set his eyes on displacing Alhaji Aliko Dangote as the richest man in Africa within the next ten years.” The journalist quoted Adeoye as saying, “I have been privileged to be trained in Ghana, England, Israel, California, and more. I have served abroad in the United Nations, and this career gave me opportunities for self-development, and these have prepared me for retirement… In 2018, I founded an investment club, Alpha Trust Investment Club (ATIC) Limited. We started it with a modest sum of N54 million, but today we have investments worth over N20 billion. That will be my full-time business from Wednesday, May 1 (yesterday). We have been investing, and now we want to go into full-time business. And we will, in the next 10 years, give Dangote a run for his money.”
However, Adeoye denied making such statements, saying, “May I request the clip where I said that I am a billionaire? I never said so. And I am shocked that erudite journalists of very high reputation will simply run with a story they never researched… I never said I am now a billionaire, and anyone who has proof to the contrary is challenged to produce it.”
Adeoye also clarified that his investment club, Alpha Trust Investment Club, is not a company but an investment club with over 1,400 members. He said, “The testimony is out there, and it is eloquent. I paid total commitment to my job day and night, because running the club does not require me to be physically anywhere else. My job never suffered any lack of attention.”
Regarding the club’s investments, Adeoye said, “In terms of membership, we are 1,400 strong… And if you divide N20 billion by 1,400 members, you will discover that the average is only N15 million. So, I do not know where the idea that one person or one member is a billionaire came from.”
