A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, has denied being sacked by the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB).
He said this while reacting to the interview that the former Minister of Finance, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji, granted Trust TV.
In the interview, Alhaji Alhaji said, “I took over from Olu Falae, who transferred N2m to the Nigerian High Commissioner because he wanted to become President. Babangida got to know of the transfer. Babangida got to hear of it and sacked him as minister of finance and appointed me.”
However, Falae, a former presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy and the All People’s Party, denied the allegation while asking him to retract the statement within two weeks or be prepared to face court action.
In a statement, which his Personal Assistant, Captain Moshood Raji (retd.), issued on his behalf, Falae described Alhaji’s allegation as mere fiction, recalling that he voluntarily resigned from Babangida’s cabinet to join politics.
The statement said: “The attention of Chief Olu Falae has been drawn to an interview granted by Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji in which he was quoted as saying that Chief Olu Falae was removed as finance minister because he transferred N2m to London for his presidential ambition.
“In the interview with the Daily Trust (Newspaper), he was quoted as saying that his appointment was made after Gen Ibrahim Babangida sacked Chief Olu Falae.
“Apart from the fact that Chief Falae served the country with dignity and integrity for many years, it is a matter of public record that he was never sacked by anyone from any public office throughout his career. He resigned from Gen Babangida’s government voluntarily to go into presidential politics.
“Chief Falae never transferred any funds to anyone except with the approval of the President for legitimate public purposes authorised and approved by the President.
“Claiming that Chief Falae’s exit from the government had to do with the transfer of N2m to London is a gross distortion of facts.” (Daily Trust)
