Response to Different Write-Ups Seeking To Tarnish My Image

By Moddibo Tukur

It has come to my attention that one Olalekan Adigun had written two separate stories in an online blog called Quest Times where he made damaging allegations against me. I have to emphasize that the writer Mr. Adigun was under the NFIU radar and for that reason he fled Nigeria and is writing from outside the country to get back at me.

Mr Adigun was being analysed by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) on his NIRSAL MICRO FINANCE BANK activity in which the NFIU is examining his use of funds. He must have been informed of the ongoing investigation triggered by the NIRSAL MICRO FINANCE ACCOUNT NUMBER 0251680547. The investigation extended to his accounts at UBA, GT Bank and Union Bank. So all what q=Quest Times published against me is a desperate smear campaign to tarnish my four and half years at the NFIU without any earlier negative reports. He is only fishing and betting on the new government to move against me.

Unfortunately for him I have concrete evidences to counter his unsubstantiated allegations. I expected Mr Adigun to come up with concrete facts not just a write up for its sake. But let me respond with facts to some of the wild allegations he made in both his write ups.

1. He challenged our employment exercises which he described as “practices”. The NFIU is a new agency with its salary based at the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). It is therefore, NOT possible to recruit and pay any applicant without written approval issued by the President and Commander in Chief, a confirmation of availability of funds by the Director General Budget Office, a Certificate of Compliance by the Chairman Federal Character Commission and additional approval by the Honorable Minister of Finance.
As somebody in the private sector, Mr Adigun needed educate himself properly before going out to draw wrong and embarrassing conclusions exposing his total ignorance of the current Federal employment processes.

2. Mr Adigun also challenged our procurement process but he focused on the procurement challenges around just a bullet proof car. He knows that we are an intelligence agency and bad people including terrorists are going after our lives. The money for procurement is only based at the GIFMIS and can never be accessed without due process and approval by the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP). BPP and the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation and other investigating agencies have a role in procurement and also ensuring all procured items are delivered. So I don’t know how buying a car subject to Audit and approval by BPP becomes a major problem for him.

3. He deliberately linked me to the building of the new NFIU Headquarters in the Villa being built by Messrs Julius Berger. Let me state clearly that the project is a CBN Intervention Project approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. At no point was the NFIU involved with the funding or approval of the project. And I want to state clearly to his excitement that the project was officially investigated already by the EFCC. So his allegations that Julius Berger is procuring my farm equipment from the U.S does not even arise. He should have waited for the farm to come into existence before making his statement. He called a village I didn’t visit in the last 20 years and said I have a farm there. And why mentioning the U.S not Nigeria where I live. I have never received and will never receive monies from Julius Berger because they are not handling the project for the NFIU. So the false allegation is very embarrassing to me and possibly Julius Berger as a company because there is no link completely. And I challenge him to make public his evidence if he got one.

4. He also alleged on a CCB report to DSS that I declared my asset only once. He mentioned a company and a fake bank account at Keystone Bank bearing Mohammed Lawan. Mr Adigun may wish to know that the DSS investigated the matter, I was invited and I defended myself. Not only did I not have a Keystone bank account, but I have never in my entire life done any transactions at the Bank. Keystone Bank is a going concern; I challenge any one to publish the account opening records and if I ever did any transactions there. I also want to tell Mr Adigun to check with the EFCC where I worked before, if EFCC Staff were not declaring their assets internally before we discarded it and upgraded to CCB reporting requirements. Any staff who worked at the EFCC in the last ten years including the former chairmen can confirm that. He knows the owners of the company he’s alleging and it’s a company that didn’t have financial transactions for close to 10 years. And again to his satisfaction the CCB wrote the EFCC to request for my records. So he is not stating anything new.

5. Regarding my bank accounts, all transactions in my accounts are there with the established sources of funds. Let Mr Adigun know that the so called 22 bank account the DSS listed are the personal accounts of one, Modibbo Raji Tukur an individual working in an oil company that I don’t even know personally though he’s from Adamawa state too. I have 4 to 5 accounts in banks and they are all in my BVN including GBP , USD and Naira Accounts. He should know that I officially earn N60 Million Naira so if he’s questioning my 1 year transactions of 100 million naira including 36 million paid to me as arrears by the Federal government, He needs not be a journalist and go back to school.

I also want to state clearly that it is totally mischievous to focus on fake rumors and allegations without evidence instead of dwelling on the remarkable successes of the NFIU. Mr Adigun needs to know that in 2022 the NFIU won the best FIU Award at the United Nations and World Bank and 3 different awards at Ecowas. And presently the Director of Financial Investigation at the Interpol and a leading IT Officer at Egmont Group were seconded from the NFIU. I challenge Mr Adigun and his likely sponsors to publish their track records. Don’t hail me please but acknowledge truths and fact. The NFIU in the last four years as Mr Adigun can celebrate was raised to a World Class institution to beat, and its from a back water department dogged to global suspension of its operations.

These are statements of tangible facts. And he should that the CCB Chairman and Director of Operations reported me because we built information at the NFIU that they were doing business with their chamber, running a company and illegally operating an NGO and I am ready to provide evidence on demand at any time of the day to any competent authority.

Tukur is the director, NFIU