Posted on: 06:25 Sat, 23 Jan 2016



Immediate-past Governor of Niger State,
Babangida Aliyu has denied owning properties in
Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab
Emirates, as is currently being circulated in the
media.

He made this known in a Friday statement
through his media aide, Mr. Israel Ebije, stating
that the allegation was false and a figment of
the imagination of the purveyors.

According to the statement, the former governor
said that naming him on the list was a
calculated attempt to subject him to ridicule
and expose him to investigation by security
agencies.

Also, he challenged anyone with evidence that
he owned a property in the UAE to come
forward with evidence, including pictures, while
urging the public to discountenance the rumour.

“I do not have properties in Dubai or Abu Dhabi
as peddled by some media organizations.

I don’t
even own a mattress outside Nigeria.
“They should do their investigation and if I am
found guilty of owning any property in UAE, the
Federal Government should appropriate it.
“I wish therefore to tell Nigerians to discard the
allegation. It is not true, it’s mischievous,
misleading and aimed at rubbishing my name,”
the statement read in part.

He wondered if he was not being targeted
because he chose to remain in the Peoples
Democratic Party, while also expressing support
for the anti-corruption stance of the present
administration.

“I am totally committed to the President
Muhammadu Buhari decisive effort towards
repatriating stolen funds and his plan towards
making political offices less palatable and
incidence of impunity as low as possible. I am
however concerned over baseless accusations
peddled against my person,” he added.

He decried the situation where members of the
opposition were tagged as corrupt because of
their party affiliation while APC members were
viewed as saints.

In the same vein, he stated that he belonged to
the group of governors who fought impunity to a
standstill in the PDP.