Murtala Nyako
A former governor of Adamawa State, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), has threatened to drag the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to court over the mysterious death of two key witnesses who were billed to testify against him.
Nyako was charged to court by the EFCC over a 37-count money laundering charge alongside his son, Abdulaziz.
In a statement issued through his lawyer, Mr. M.M Bakari, yesterday, Nyako said the process that led to his arrest and arraignment, was ”a stunt stage-managed by the leadership of the EFCC to achieve some public relations goal and probably anchor them on a pedestal that will impress the new leadership of the country”.
The former also denied having any connection with the death of the witnesses, accusing the EFCC leadership of “trying to persecute, rather than prosecute a few high profile personalities in order to avert falling victims of the broom of change sweeping across all facets of the country”.
The EFCC had informed the trial court, in a counter affidavit filed against Nyako and his son, Abdulazeez, a serving Senator, that two witnesses, Ma’aji Mohammed Iro and Abdulmalik Dalhatu, were found dead shortly after they came to its office and testified against the accused former governor.
Late Iro served as the then Regional Manager of Zenith Bank Plc, North East, Nigeria, and was in charge of the accounts of Adamawa State with the bank.
The disposition of the EFCC has however drawn the anger of Nyako, who in the statement, said: “The most worrisome of all the allegations presented by the EFCC lawyer Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, was the allegation that Nyako and his son, Abdulaziz, have a hand in the death of two witnesses of the commission”.
Explaining that contrary to EFCC’s insinuation, two out of 31 witnesses on its list had died in hospitals after battling with certain known ailments.
“They neither died at the same time nor slumped and died as insinuated by the EFCC.
“While one died in a hospital in Abuja, the other died in a hospital in Yola shortly after he returned from a complicated medical treatment abroad.
“It is therefore unfair, unjust and uncharitable to accuse Nyako and his son of the death of the two persons, who as every human being have a sure date with death.
“This is totally unethical and Admiral Nyako has already decided to sue both the EFCC and their lawyer to court for defamation of character”.
The statement also dismissed as “blatant falsehood”, allegation by the agency that Nyako’s son, Abdulaziz, jumped bail and returned to Nigeria after May 29.
“That is totally false and in fact malicious. The truth is that Abdulaziz was in Nigeria during the electioneering campaigns.
“He contested as a senator, went through the process of both security and party screening, campaigned for the election and was arrested by the EFCC in Gombe within the same period. “He was brought to Abuja from Gombe, detained and was granted administrative bail with conditions to report daily which he complied with.
Nyako also argued that most of the charges against him were contradictory and repetitive, saying whereas he was impeached from office in July 2014, some of the charge contained offences he allegedly committed in July 2014.
”When lawyers abandon the presentation of evidence and resort to dramatization and presentation of wild, malicious and false insinuations, it means a desire to malign the accused.
“If there is any proof as to why the EFCC keep losing virtually all their cases, the manner of the prosecution of the Nyako case provides such proof abundantly.
“From the framing of the charges to the conduct of their lawyers in court, everything was wrong.
“It was quite obvious that the goal is to persecute Nyako, tarnish his image and give him a bad name in the eyes of the public”, the statement read.
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