Buhari’s Wife Mentioned In Halliburton Scandal, Fayose Insists

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has insisted that the wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, was mentioned in the Halliburton scandal.

Fayose had last month, while reacting to the freezing of his Zenith Bank accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, claimed that Aisha, was allegedly involved in a transactions with an american, Jefferson, that was jailed in the Halliburton Scandal in United States.

“There was a judgment against the wife of the President, where she wired $170,00 to Jefferson that was convicted in the Halliburton scandal, he said.

Slighted by the statement, Mrs. Buhari through her counsel, Mary Ekpere & Co had written a letter dated June 22, 2016, to the governor demanding a retraction of the statement. She threatened a legal action if the retraction was not made within five days.

The acting Public Affairs Officer, United States Consulate General, Lagos, Frank Selin, had also told The PUNCH that the US had no information to provide on the matter.

However, Fayose, through his lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), has replied the wife of the president through her lawyer justifying his claim that she was indeed mentioned in the Halliburton scandal.

In a July 8 letter, Ozekhome affirmed that the statement made regarding her involvement was “correct and justified in law,” having been factually premised on an existing court judgment.

The letter read, “Our client has referred to us your letter dated 22nd June, 2016, on alleged defamation of the character of your client, Her Excellency, Mrs Aisha Buhari, the wife of Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, with firm instructions to reply to and reject same in its entirety.

“Our client states and reaffirms categorically that the statement he made as regards the involvement of Mrs Aisha Buhari, the wife of President Buhari, in the Halliburton scandal, is correct and justified in law; having regards to a court judgement convicting one Mr William Jefferson for bribery in the Halliburton case.

“Therein, the name of the President’s wife featured conspicuously. At page 22 of the said judgment delivered by the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, USA, in criminal No 1: 07CR209, the said Mr William Jefferson was sentenced at 9.00am on November 13, 2009, by Mark D, Lytle. Your client, Mrs Aisha Buhari, was specifically mentioned in the judgment. The judge referred to Exhibits 36-87 in the following words, for clarification;

“See also Government Exhibits 36-87 (6/26/02 $170,000 wire transfer from account in Nigeria in the name of Aisha Buhari to an account in the name of The ANJ Group, LLC, identifying “William Jefferson” as Beneficiary)… Given the age of the defendant, the severity of the sentence calculated by the Probation Office, the defendant’s frequent travel overseas and unexplained wire transfers from overseas locations to financial accounts used by the defendant, the defendant cannot rebut the presumption at sentencing that he is a risk of flight.

(PUNCH)