Hushpuppi: Call Nabena to order, Saraki warns APC

Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has kicked against the statement issued by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Yekini Nabena, calling for a probe of top PDP leaders, including Saraki, over their alleged links with arrested cybercrime suspect, Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpuppi.

Saraki, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, described the statement as “dirty, cheap and irresponsible politics” and called on APC leaders to warn Nabena to desist from circulating such offensive claims.

Olaniyonu said his principal had no link whatsoever with the suspect, pointing out that he had been vocal on the need for Nigeria to confront such menace headlong.

He said, “The statement credited to the APC, the ruling party in our country, is one of the ways by which our anti-graft agencies are weakened and why the fight against corruption in the country is often viewed with suspicion by the international community.

“This is because when these cyber-crime suspects were operating freely and openly displaying wealth, the APC saw nothing bad in their activities. Also, the party at that time did not deem it necessary to call on the anti-graft agencies to investigate their activities.”

The statement added, “Also, since the arrest of those cyber crime suspects and the subsequent damage to the image and the economy of Nigeria as well as the crisis it created for Nigerians engaged in lawful businesses across the world, the ruling party had been muted.

“The only time the APC deemed it necessary to make a statement was when it thought it should play dirty, cheap and irresponsible politics.”

Olaniyonu said his boss (Saraki) was the only political leader who had publicly made a statement through “an Op-Ed article published in the Daily Trust newspaper of July 1, 2020 titled ‘Cyber Criminals: Confronting The Few Who Dent Many’ and this opinion article had been widely circulated online and on other platforms.”

He said, “In that article, he strongly condemned the activities of these cyber criminals and called on the law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to make decisive interventions to checkmate their activities.

“He has also got a research institution, the Politeia Institute, whose board he chairs to commence a research on the best ways to tackle the menace.

“Such a noble intervention in tackling a menace is what Dr. Saraki believes in, not mudslinging and playing politics at the expense of the nation’s image.

“At this point, we call on the APC leadership to rein in the so-called Yekini Nabena and compel him to desist from making and circulating such malicious, odious and offensive claims.”