A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Garus Gololo, has berated the special assistant to the President on media and publicity Garba Shehu for defending the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele over allegations of misappropriation of N89.1 trillion in stamp duty funds by a member of the House of Representatives, Muhammad Gudaji-Kazaure.
Shehu had in a statement, described the claim as unfounded and a figment of the imagination of Gudaji-Kazaure.
But speaking in a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Gololo also condemned a group, Arewa Assembly for standing by the embattled CBN governor.
He called on the president to suspend the CBN governor while investigation is going on.
According to him, if the President fails to suspend the CBN governor, it means the anti-corruption campaign of the President is dead.
“If the President is truly fighting corruption, Emefiele will be suspended and investigated. If they find him guilty he should be prosecuted and if they don’t find him guilty then he will be free. But if they do nothing, then it means the president’s anti-corruption campaign is one sided,” he said.
Continuing, he said: “I am disappointed with the spokesperson of the president Garba Shehu for defending the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Shehu is the spokesperson of President Muhammadu Buhari not Godwin Emefiele. And as far as i am concerned, the president was not mentioned in the allegation, why is he defending Emefiele.
“He should allow Emefiele to be investigated and we also want the president to suspend him while the investigation is going on. Honourable Gudaji-Kazaure is a man of integrity. We believe in him, we respect him. When he says something on the floor of the House of Representatives, he always stands by it. He always stands by the truth.
“We don’t want Garba shehu to intervene because he is not EFCC, he is not ICPC, he is not the police. As a country, we must forget about tribe, religion and focus on the future of Nigeria. One person cannot be accused of misappropriating this kind of money while the majority of Nigerians are living in poverty. The allegation must be investigated properly and the outcome should be made public.
“I also heard a group who call themselves Arewa Assembly defending the Central Bank Governor. If they truly speak for and defend the interest of the North, why didnt they speak when northerners like DCP Aba Kyari, Accountant General of the federation, Col Sambo Dasuki etc. were arrested?
