Audio Attachment:click to listen to William Nyarko |
A former journalist at The Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper, William Nyarko says the claim by former President Jerry John Rawlings that he was gifted only $2 million by late Nigeria President Sani Abacha is entirely not true.
Mr Nyarko who is now a lawyer in London says the information he gathered in 1998 during the period of the controversy, indicated Mr Rawlings received the $5 million and not $2 million.
Mr Nyarko disclosed this on Peace FM morning show 'Kokrokoo' when he was reacting to an interview the former President granted to Guardian newspaper in Nigeria.
"The most important thing is that after 18 years, former President Rawlings; even if he collected $1 it is not good. The most important thing is that he has accepted he collected the money. We all have our sources...if he says 2 million and Gwazo says 5million; you and I were not there. The emphasis should be on the fact that he denied collecting the money from 1998 and now he has accepted; for me it is very significant" Mr Nyarko said.
Former President Rawlings is in the media recently following reports that he had received $5 million from the then Nigerian President, Sani Abacha in 1998. Government functionaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) then put up strong defence; denying the allegation.
Speaking to the Guardian Newspaper, Mr Rawlings insisted he was given a suitcase with only $2 million by Gwarzo, one of Mr Abacha's right hand men.
Click the audio above to listen to the interview between Mr Nyarko and Kwami Sefa Kayi, host of 'Kokrokoo'
William Nyarko/Facebook
I've been asked by several people and the media about the admission by President Rawlings that he personally received $2m, and not $5m from former Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha.
I've already fielded some questions from the media during a couple of interviews. Here's one of the articles I wrote on the matter in 1998 after investigating the Rawlings/Abacha $5m scandal, which I am reproducing below. I hope that this will lower the several requests I've been receiving for background info/interviews. Thank you. Now let me get to work for ACILA.
The Ghanaian Chronicle Online 12 December 1998
By William Nyarko
Nigerian Gov’t writes to Chronicle Over $5m
*We asked them: did our man [JJ Rawlings] take the $5m?
*Speaker Annan now gets evidence he wants
THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT finally responded to our persistent inquiries on the President Rawlings/ Abacha alleged bribery affair with a diplomatic response that should leave The Speaker of Parliament no room to reject tomorrow’s motion by the Minority calling for a probe.
In his ruling last Thursday on the admissibility of the Minority motion calling for a probe into the allegation, the Speaker called for more evidence to justify the course of action in the motion proposed by the Minority.
Faced with the clearest opportunity yet to diffuse the raging controversy by making a categorical NO or YES answer, Aso Rock took the only diplomatic route that is available to a “friendly” government “No comment, please”.
In a short letter with reference number SH/CPS/GC/VOL.2/98 faxed to The Ghanaian Chronicle on November 27, 1998, Alhaji Mohammed Haruna, the Chief Press Secretary to the Head of State, replied unequivocally to our direct question on the possible culpability of our leader, President Rawlings: “THE STATE HOUSE, ASO ROCK, ABUJA HAS NO COMMENT ON THIS MATTER, PLEASE.”
The letter was signed for the Chief Press Secretary by Mr. Musa Aduwak. We had written to The Government of Nigeria in a letter headed “:RE- LATE ABACHA’S ALLEGED $5 MILLION BRIBE TO PRESIDENT RAWLINGS” asking directly whether The Chief Press Secretary, one-time editor of The Influential New Nigerian, would also offer any comments, insights or confirmation of the Nigerian Post Express newspaper’s allegations about President Rawlings’ $ 5million charge.
We further asked whether the government would make an official denial: Did President Rawlings take $5 million dollars from the late Nigerian leader or not, and if he did, whether the Federal Government of Nigeria would retrieve the money? In a follow-up telephone conversation with Haruna on Friday evening, the same day, he added that even if Gwarzo gave the money to Rawlings and other African Heads of State, the Federal Government of Nigeria was not interested in retrieving the monies from them.
Informed opinion is that The Nigerian Government could have put President Rawlings out of his misery and put an end to the speculations about his guilt by stating categorically that “There is no truth in the matter”. Chronicle had earlier been told by a source at Aso Rock, the seat of the Presidency: “do not expect a direct confirmation from us. We are much more concerned about bilateral relations between our two sister nations than pursuing this $5m bribe charge”.
The “no comment” from the Federal Government of Nigeria is not the only one which may strengthen the case of the Minority in Parliament for the government to set up an independent body to investigate the allegation which is doing incalculable damage to the Presidency both in Ghana and abroad. In Ghana, the allegation appears to have put a big question mark on the integrity of the President and it’s seen by political observers as having undermined his authority in spite of his denial.
President Rawlings has described the allegation as “lacking foundation in common sense’’. In a direct reaction to the President’s denial, the Post Express told the Chronicle in an interview in Apapa, Lagos, last month that they still stand by their story. But fresh facts emerging from the investigation of Gwarzo indicate that Abacha gave Gwarzo about $143million to pay as bribes to East African leaders to support Abacha’s campaign for the Security Council seat “which comes up in the near future.”
More significantly, according to a confidential memo Gwarzo wrote to Abacha, on October 13,1997, Gwarzo wrote” It is particularly significant to start cultivating the Eastern African leaders to the extent to which you made an inroad in the ECOWAS REGION making them feel that you and your country are taking the entire OAU with you”. The memo suggests that Gwarzo asked for $80million, £40million and N250million to “cultivate” the East African leaders after having “successfully settled’’ the West African Heads of State.
Chronicle sources close to Major-General Mohammed Abdullahi, the National Security Adviser(NSA) who led the investigation of Gwarzo confirmed that Gwarzo, told the investigators that he delivered these monies to the East African leaders. It was not immediately known by press time, Friday night, who these leaders were and how much each received.
Gwarzo’s memo with file number NSA/A/320/S states: REQUEST FOR FUNDS
“Your Excellency is the Chairman of ECOWAS by special grace of God and during your stewardship, the ECOWAS environment is very much more eventful and by the same token you are the most loved and respected to the people and government of this region. It is, therefore, necessary to use this current feeling to your advantage for the campaign of the Security Council seat which comes up in the near future. It is particularly significant to start cultivating the eastern African countries to the extent to which you made an inroad in the ECOWAS region making them feel that you and your country are taking the entire OAU with you. .....(the words are not clear here but it continues) relationship is the use to which you will put them in different times and occasions. Your views are always respected and supported so they will be when the time comes for Commonwealth, ECOWAS, OAU and UN meetings and decisions. Since we need ECOWAS and OAU favorable support and decisions we, therefore, have to work hard for them. In view of the above, some strategies have to be evolved which were already discussed. I am writing now to ask for your approval to use Eighty million dollars, ($80million), Forty million pounds(£40million) and Two hundred and fifty million Naira(N250,000,000) for use during this campaign. Signed: Alhaji Ismaila Gwarzo, NPM, mni National Security Adviser.
Abacha minuted his approval for the release of these monies and these were paid to Gwarzo by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Paul Ogwuma.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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