A former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, at the weekend, accused the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, of collaborating with some others to deliberately put him away by his imprisonment over the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) contract scam.
Speaking at a press conference at his Lugard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos resident, George said the imprisonment was a “convoluted conspiracy” targeted at whittling down his growing profile after having served and pleased late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
“If you look into the details you will know that some people intentionally decided that they were going to haul Bode out of any appointment or any consideration. At that particular time I didn’t realise that because late Yar’Adua, after we finished the election had told me that we were going to work together.
“Before I did not have the story but now, I can now look back and tell the whole world the conspirators. Farida played a key role because she was in charge. I met her one day on the way to the president’s office when the president said I should bring some document for him. She stayed back greeting me and I asked if she was a staff. She said she is Farida and we chatted. Then she mentioned that there was a case handled by her predecessor but that there was nothing in it.
“I never knew that Michael Aondoakka and herself are from the same local government area as she has just accepted. And you should have asked who brought Aondoakka as the lawyer for the presidential tribunal. You know Aondoaka was representing the other side at the trial. Suddenly, he became a defendant of president Yar’Adua and he later became the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice. When he became the AGF, Farida became the EFCC chairman.
“Because what Aondoaka told me in his office was totally different. I have witnesses on the issue, who were there. Looking back, I now understand that some people didn’t want me in the villa there, to work. They wanted an empire for themselves to control because all those people hanging around there…having been the DG of the campaign and the man (Yar’Adua) had told me we were going to work together, then who would have been stronger? So that was their theory.
“Of course once you have been picked up; you are having a case nobody will give you any consideration. The trust had been established between Yar’ Adua and I but some people had their ideas and the only way by which you should punish this man is to say this case and of course, Farida was brought by them, so it was easy,” he argued.
He reiterated that the case was brought up to hound him politically: “What did we do? So, to get him out of the way for consideration.”
While applying innuendo to describe someone he described as “that young man from Kwara State”, George said: “Some of them, who were hunters as at that time are now being hunted.”
“There was one who said he was very happy that the man (Yar’Adua) dies. I was even told he was dancing on the table – drunk like a fish. Eventually, Yar’Adua came and fired him.”
He vowed to made public all those involved including the former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, when concluding his memoir.
Source: Thisday
