Wife of the president, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has distanced herself from her aide de camp, Mr. Sani Baba-Inna, who has been arrested for alleged N2.5 billion fraud
The ADC is alleged to have received huge donations from politicians, businessmen, and women on her behalf and refused to hand them over to her.
Mrs. Buhari said Sani Baban-Inna had been her ADC since 2016 and has been associated with her ever since.
She added that she was dismayed that the ADC had used the opportunity to defraud her unsuspecting associates and officials as initial investigations.
She called on all those in positions of authority to rise above intimidation by their aides and deal with such attitude as extortion by name-dropping, especially within the Presidency.
In a statement by her director of information, Suleiman Haruna, Mrs. Buhari denied ever sending any of her staff members “to collect any favour on her behalf or on behalf of her children and will never do so” and urged whoever had been allegedly defrauded by Baban-Inna to get across to him to retrieve whatever he took from them.
The statement reads: “The story as it pertains to her ADC, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Sani Baban-Inna has it that he has been detained on the orders of Her Excellency for dropping her name and defrauding unsuspecting officials and associates. She wishes to use this opportunity to refute such allegation and to state that she has no hand in his arrest and detention.
“CSP Sani Baban-Inna has been her ADC since 2016 and has been associated with her ever since. To the utter dismay of Her Excellency, he has used the opportunity to defraud unsuspecting associates and officials as initial investigations have shown.
“The Nigeria Police Force, his employers arrested him to investigate the allegations leveled against him, this, being within their jurisdiction.
“She therefore wishes to use this opportunity to inform the general public that she has never sent any of her staff to collect any favours on her behalf or on behalf of her children and will never do so. She is therefore imploring anyone that has been defrauded by Mr. Baban-Inna to get across to him to retrieve whatever he took from them. Mrs. Buhari wishes to reiterate that she will not condone fraudulent behavior by any of her staff.
“She uses this opportunity to call on all those in positions of authority to rise above intimidation by their aides and deal with such attitudes as extortion by name-dropping, especially within the presidency. As she always emphasizes, this government was voted into office based on the trust and confidence of the people.”
Meanwhile, the Department of State Services said it had detained Baban-Inna in connection with the allegation of N2.5bn fraud.
The spokesman for the DSS, Mr. Nnochirionye Afunanya, said the case was handed over to the agency by the police authorities.
“His case was handed over by the police and investigation is ongoing,” he said.
