Kuku denies evading EFCC investigations

FORMER Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs and chairman of the Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku has reacted to a media report that he has fled the country to evade investigations by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

The anti-graft body, acting on a petition written against the tenure of Kuku as head of the Amnesty programme, where he was alleged to have mismanaged billions of naira, had invited him to clear the air on the matter.

An Abuja-based news medium had alleged early this week that the former Special Adviser travelled outside the country on the eve of the May 29 handover date to evade arrest and investigations of activities during his tenure.

Reacting to the allegations, a group of associates of Kuku, in a press statement described the newspaper publication as spurious and a figment of the imaginations of the writers, insisting that Kuku has no reason to flee the country.

In the statement which was signed by its Secretary Prince Bill Biyi Poroye and made available to The Guardian, the group said, “Our attention has been drawn to a publication made by an Abuja newspaper of Sunday 26th July, 2015, where it was alleged that Hon. Kingsley Kuku, the immediate past Special Adviser to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s former President is trying to evade EFCC invitation.

“The entire story can best be described as the figment of the writer’s imagination. It was fraught with falsehood and embellishments calculated to misinform the public and probably smear the image of a man who did his best to stabilize the Niger Delta at a time Nigeria was gradually grinding to a halt due to restiveness in that region.

“The publication alleged that Kuku escaped from the country on the eve of the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Yet Kuku was honoured in his home town Arogbo, Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State on Sunday 14th June, 2015 at a Grand Civic Reception that had all the who-is-who in our society in attendance including Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the Governor of Ondo State and Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum.

“It is totally wrong and misleading to say Kuku had since May 29, 2015 absconded from Nigeria, when the same Kuku was actively involved and participated as a member of the Civic Reception Committee held in honour of the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan at Otueke in Bayelsa State.

“He stayed more than two weeks in Abuja after May 29, and has been in Lagos, Arogbo and Akure. On July 22, 2015, he attended a meeting at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Secretariat, Akure before he travelled to the USA to keep a medical appointment.

“In Kuku’s reply to the EFCC invitation, the medical papers were attached, stating the name of Hospital and date of appointment. In these days of avalanche of opportunities to cross-check information, it is ridiculous that the publication chose not to confirm facts that were in public domain.

“We want to use this medium to state that, Hon. Kingsley Kuku’s records in the Presidential Amnesty Office speak for themselves and always open to public scrutiny. He has no reason to run away from his fatherland.

“Whereas we believe in the rule of law and accountability of those who occupy public offices, we shall through all civil means resist selective witch hunting or campaign of calumny. Kuku’s response to the EFCC invitation has been acknowledged by the anti-graft agency, it is therefore despicable for a media house to allow itself to be used for a hatchet-man’s job.”