Former presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati was arrested by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly facilitating a speech by former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Oxford Union, emerging details have revealed.
An informed source who did not want to be named told SIGNAL on Tuesday that the Buhari presidency was rattled by Jonathan’s speech at the Oxford Union where he reeled out details about how Nigeria prospered and became one of the fastest growing economies in the world under his leadership.
According to the source, Buhari’s handlers believed Abati was the brain behind the Oxford move having concluded a management course at the institution in 2015.
Abati, the source disclosed, had been on the watchlist of Jonathan loyalists targeted by the Buhari administration, but Jonathan’s Oxford speech provided the impetus to finally go after him.
“The timing was perfect. You could see clearly that Abati was picked up that same evening by EFCC just as Jonathan finished delivering his speech at the Oxford Union and the speech was making waves all over the media. The belief in Aso Rock was that Jonathan was adding insult to injury and using the Oxford speech to make the Buhari administration look incompetent. That was how Abati came into the picture. Abati was fingered as the facilitator of the Oxford speech and the plot was to pick him up immediately on corruption charges to embarrass Jonathan and water down any image benefits that he may have received from the Oxford platform. It was also meant to send a signal to other credible international platforms to stay away from inviting the former President for such engagements”, the source said.
Abati holds a Certificate in Management and Leadership (2015) from the Said Business School, University of Oxford, a development he made public whilst undertaking the course in 2015.
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is Britain’s third oldest University Union (after the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society and The Cambridge Union) and has provided an opportunity for many politicians from Britain and other countries to develop their debating skills and to acquire good reputation and contacts. The Union has since become the home of talks and debates by intriguing and influential people who shape world events including the likes of Sir Winston Churchill, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Michael Jackson.
Jonathan’s speech at the Oxford Union adds to the growing list of the former President’s international recognition and public engagements across the globe.
Premium Times reported on Tuesday that Abati has admitted to collecting the sum of N50 million from the embattled former National Security Adviser Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and offered to return N5 million to the anti-graft commission.
Meanwhile, Femi Adesina, President Buhari’s current Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, who himself was a senior journalist like Abati before his appointment by President Buhari, has also been named as one of the beneficiaries of the sum of N50 million from the Dasuki largesse. Despite being fingered in the scandal, he retains his position as President Buhari’s spokesman and is yet to be invited by the EFCC for any questioning whatsoever.
SIGNAL could not reach EFCC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren for comments at the time of this report.
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