The lawmaker who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th senate, Mr. Shehu Sani has said that criminalising him or framing him up will neither silence nor compromise him.
It would be recalled that Sani has been remanded in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) since December 31, 2029 for allegedly extorting the chairman of ASD Motors, Mr. Sani Dauda of $24,000.
Speaking from EFCC custody, Sani accused the federal government of using Dauda whom he described as “barely educated front” through the EFCC to implicate him in the extortion scandal.
“The allegations of ‘extortion’ against me are baseless, fact-less, unfounded, hollow and unsubstantial.
“It is a scripted stream of mischievous concoctions and utter fabrications using a puppet state agent; all aimed at splashing faeces and mud on me.
“The extortion allegation is nothing but a wholesale falsehood, packaged in a phantom anti-graft facade to taint, stain and mute me. That shall never happen if I am alive.
“I have made my statement and provided all my facts against their package of lies and I demand the EFCC to make public all the sheets of our statements and supporting documents for the world to see.
“My detention is unfair, unjust, prearranged and politically motivated.”
“Alhaji Sani Dauda and his hidden sponsors have not been able to provide any proof of their allegations. I’m unjustly incarcerated on the grounds of an arranged two-page petition backed with no evidential or documentary proof.
“Fascism thrives in frame up of its critics.
“They claim extortion and here they are closing my bank accounts, searching my houses and offices and demanding I declare my assets, of which I have already done that at the CCB (Code of Conduct Bureau) last year when I left the Senate.
“Frame-up cannot silence me!”
“I have never ever met with the CJN or any judge or judges or ever called directly or indirectly to offer to give or to give directly or indirectly any form of gratification from Alhaji Sani Dauda.
“I have never ever discussed with ASD on any form of bribe or gratification to be given to any judge or any EFCC official.
“The bribe story is phantom; the bribe story is a fake, imaginative work of fiction, cruelly crafted to smear me, to frame me and to justify my persecution.
“The bribe story is a heap of blatant lies and outright falsehood concocted and fabricated, using a front and the EFCC to premiere a state drama.
“ASD is a barely educated front for a state mission.
“Criminalising me or ‘framing me’ will not silence me, bend me or compromise me.”
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Nigeria, India in partnership to maximise Diaspora potential
The chairman and chief executive officer of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said that stronger partnership between intelligent Nigerians and Indians in Diaspora is capable of transforming the world.
Dabiri-Erewa disclosed this in Abuja during the commemoration of the 2020 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Indians in Diaspora day) and World Hindi Day.
NAN reports that Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is commemorated on January 9 to mark the return on Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa and recognizing Indians in Diaspora.
Dabiri-Erewa said that those in Diaspora represented persons undergoing human capital development especially the combination of Nigerians and Indians in Diaspora who are known to make up the most intelligent migrants in countries of residence.
She said Nigerian doctors are known to be among the best in their countries of residence and Indians in Diaspora have also contributed to industrial development in their countries of residence.
She explained that if Nigerian medical doctors abroad could impart their knowledge and expertise back in the country, it would go a long way toward reducing the rate of medical tourism
Dabiri-Erewa commended India for its laudable achievements recorded in overseeing the affairs of its citizens living in various countries and the contributions they were making toward the further development of the countries of their residence.
The NiDCOM boss said that Nigeria also had a lot to learn from India in terms of how it had successfully handled the affairs of its nationals in Diaspora.
“There is a lot to learn from what you have done with your diaspora. When I became chairman of NIDCOM, the first high commission I decided to visit was the Indian High commission to learn from India.
“What I have learnt from India has helped us in the task of setting up of the Nigeria Diaspora Commission and we will continue to come to you to learn more from you.
“The Indian Diaspora is a bridge to the world. We also have a Nigerian Diaspora that is also a bridge to the world but we know that we have a lot to do.
“Imagine those two teams of Diaspora coming together, the Indian Diaspora, the Nigerian Diaspora, I believe they can change the world.
“So that partnership I hope we continue to build with you, work with you as we continue to engage on the issue of our Diaspora human capital development.
“In terms of Medical Tourism, we have almost 5,000 doctors in America alone and if our doctors in Diaspora alone do what the Indian diasporas have done in India we would change the history of medical tourism in Nigeria.
“Talking about remittances, we also have a Nigerian Diaspora contributing last year about 25 million dollars to the Nigerian economy.
“And we also want to put in place a lot of incentives to make the Nigerian Diaspora do as much as the Indian Diaspora has done,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
Also speaking, Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhay Thakur, said the Indian government attached so much importance to, and recognised the contributions of Indians living abroad.
Thakur said Indian has the largest Diaspora in the world at almost 31 million with more than 50,000 living in Nigeria.
According to him, it is a thing of great pride that many multinational operations are headed by young Indians which include Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Ajay Banga of Mastercard, Geeta Gopinath of IMF among others.
Thakur added that to ensure sustained and substantive engagement with the Indian Diaspora, PBD Conventions had been held regularly in India since 2003 during which outstanding Indians were recognised.
The high commissioner said India’s Prime Minister Shri Modi Ji’s administration had reinvigorated the government of India’s commitments with Indians living abroad through several programmes.
He explained that the programmes are to enable Indians in Diaspora to enjoy every benefit as citizens still living in India such as the Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC), the Know India Programme (KIP).
“We have an Indian Community Welfare Fund for carrying out welfare activities for distressed overseas Indians.
“In 2009, the High Commission together with efforts of the ministry of shipping, India and the Nigerian authorities secured the release of over five Indian nationals kidnapped from the ship in April and December 2019.
“The Indian Diaspora in Nigeria has been active with the presence of over 135 Indian owned companies which are said to be the second largest employer of labour after the federal government of Nigeria itself,” Thahur said.
