Tukur Buratai, former chief of army staff, says he has no
link to the items recently seized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in Abuja.
The ICPC had, on June 16, raided a property in the Wuse 2
area of the federal capital territory (FCT), on suspicion of money laundering.
The commission said it recovered money and other items from
the property including N175,706,500, $220,965, a G-Wagon, 2022 editions of BMW
and Mercedes-Benz cars and customised mobile phones.
Several designer wristwatches, including three Rolexes, and
some property documents were also recovered.
Initially, the ICPC had failed to mention the name of the
owner of the Abuja property, and there were claims that the seized items
belonged to the former army chief.
But in a statement on its website, the commission had said
“facts available for the time being indicates that the property is owned by the
owner of K Salam Construction Company, a military contractor”.
“The commission arrested the managing director of K Salam
Construction Company Nigeria Limited, Mr Kabiru Sallau and investigation is
ongoing,” ICPC added.
Meanwhile, reacting to the allegation through Ugochukwu
Osuagwu, his legal adviser, at a media briefing on Monday, Buratai described
the reports linking him to the properties as “filled with mischief, baseless
and concocted”.
“Lieutenant General T.Y. Buratai has no relationship with
the said properties nor does he have any relationship with the said K Salam
Construction Company Nigeria Limited. These are fabricated lies to criminally
defame the image of Lieutenant General T.Y. Buratai,” he said.
“First, ICPC, in a press release on June 24, 2022, denied
any involvement of Lieutenant General T.Y. Buratai with their investigation of
the Wuse 2 property.
“Secondly, Corporate Affairs Commission, in a letter dated
Monday, 27 June 2022 and signed by A.G. Abubakar clearly exonerated Lieutenant
General T.Y. Buratai with any relationship with the said K Salam Construction
Company Nigeria Limited. Messrs. Muhammed Ahmed Sallau and Sallau Kabiru are
the owners of the said company.
“Thirdly, a check on
the FRSC website on the number plate: ABJ98BH attached to the Mercedes-Benz is
false; checks show that the said plate number belongs to a Toyota Corolla
custom colour.
“We, therefore, use this medium to urge restraint on those
who are trying to politicise what is purely a matter being investigated.
“With ICPC having cleared the air on this subject matter, it
will be preposterous to now try to politicise the matter.”
Osuagwu added that Buratai is already taking action against
those spreading the “falsehood”.
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