Thursday 6 July 2017

I can afford you if I wanted – Ahmadu Bello’s grandson carpets Sultan of Sokoto


Hassan Ahmad Danbaba​, grandson of the late Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, has ​reacted to ​reports of his probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
​He also spoke on ​​claims that he begged the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, to intervene in the matter.
​Hassan in a strong-worded statement he personally signed and made available to DAILY POST on Tuesday said ​he is aware that the “Sultan is hell bent on having me jailed as he has confided in one of the council members.”
Hassan continued by attacking the monarch, saying, ​”​A Sultan who commoditizes caliphate services with a price tag, knows that I know his price, which I can as well afford, if I wanted his intervention in any matter.”
The statement reads in full: “My attention has been drawn to publications on an online medium on Sunday 2nd July and in a newspaper on Monday 3rd July, 2017.

​”​One of the spurious allegations was that I was sacked as Magajin Garin Sokoto, a position I held for 20 years and inherited from my great-grand parents, who were undoubtedly major stakeholders in the establishment and development of the Sokoto Caliphate.
​”​The second allegation was that the Sultan refused to intervene on my behalf when I, according to report, went and begged him to do so in my case with the EFCC.
​”​The first case, according to reports, was that I fraudulently collected money for an unexecuted contract in Taraba State, while the second one was that I was involved in a fraudulent deal in Paris Club loan refund consultancy services.
​”​It is both saddening and disheartening that a person holding an exalted throne will engage in peddling falsehood and lead a smear campaign against his council member by feeding editors with lies.
​”​For the purpose of setting the records straight, I voluntarily resigned my position as Magajin Garin Sokoto at a meeting with the Sultan, council members and some eminent personalities in our society such as former Governor Mallam Yahaya Abdulkarim, former Deputy Governor Mallam Chiso Dattijo and former Secretary to the Military Government, Makaman Sokoto Mallam Sani Dingyadi, among others.
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​”​This was the second meeting we held to resolve our differences with Inuwa Abdulkadir, and at no point during the two meetings the issue of EFCC was mentioned by my humble self or any other person present at the meeting.
​”​I honourably resigned, walked out on the Sultan, retuned my staff of office, official vehicle and other title paraphernalia because I could no longer stand the Sultan’s verbiage, disparaging remarks and tacit attempts to humiliate my lineage.
​”​I will like to also make it categorically clear that none of my companies failed to execute contract in Taraba State or defaulted in its contractual agreements.
​”​As for Paris Club consultancy service, I have never begged nor discussed the​ ​issue of EFCC with the Sultan. Let me also make it clear that I was never arrested or detained by the EFCC.
“As a responsible citizen, I honoured the invitation of the commission and after handling the matter in a professional way by taking my statement without humiliation or harassment, I was asked to go.
​”​I challenge the Sultan or any of the council members to prove that I have ever begged them to intervene in any of my dealings, either at this trying moment or previously.
​”​A Sultan who commoditizes caliphate services with a price tag, knows that I know his price, which I can as well afford, if I wanted his intervention in any matter.
​”​I am aware that Sultan is hell bent on having me jailed as he has confided in one of the council members. So it should be noted that should anything happen to me, Sultan should be held responsible.
​”​With this barrage of accusations against my person and attempts to humiliate my ​”​lineage, one cannot but infer that the long-standing acrimony and animosity borne against the family late Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna is fast resurfacing

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