A former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has told of an issue he had with his wife bordering on report that he had $1.3bn holed up in foreign account.
The ex-minister acquainted the public with the happening at a symposium themed, “The Media in the Age of Disinformation,” held in Lagos in commemoration of Prof. Wole Soyinka’s 90th birthday.
As claimed by News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Mohammed related that he was a victim of fake news during his time as minister under Muhammadu Buhari saying the report that he corruptly enriched with 1.3bn dollars lodged in a foreign account may have gained traction with the wife, and threatened the foundation of his 40-year-old marriage.
Quoting him, the publication wrote, “Permit me to share publicly with you today for the first time, how social media threatened the foundation of my 40-year-old marriage.
“It was sometimes in 2018 when I came to Lagos from Abuja for an official assignment. As usual, I retire to bed about midnight, but about 3 am., my wife gently roused me from my slumber.
“At first, I panicked, fearing that there had been a security breach, but my wife’s mien belied that possibility, for she was calm and composed.
“Solemnly, my wife asked me if I was fully awake as there were some serious issues to discuss.
“I could not fathom what was that urgent or serious to warrant being woken up at this time of the night.
“My mind immediately did a kaleidoscope of my rascalities and escapades in the last few months”
‘Daddy, death can come knocking at any moment, please let me also, as your wife, be a signatory to your overseas account in Ali Financial which contains 1.3 billion dollars.’
“I spent the next two hours or so, sweating to convince my wife that there is no iota of truth in the allegation.
“I had to fetch a calculator and reproduce the Federal Appropriation Act for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 in the middle of the night and explain to her why it is simply preposterous for me to have 1.3 billion dollars in a foreign account.
“I explained to her that there is no year my capital budget exceeded N5 billion, which then, at about N400 to a dollar, was just 12.5 million dollars.
“I explained that, even if I managed to divert every kobo of it to my personal account, it will take at least, 104 years to save the sum of 1.3 billion dollars being peddled that I stole.”
Speaking further: “My wife insisted that the whole world believed the story and that her friends had, as a result, besieged her with all kinds of requests.
“She said every effort on her part to deny the existence of this foreign account only succeeded in depicting her in the minds of her friends as a selfish, greedy and uncaring friend.
“Is my wife truly convinced of my innocence? The answer is in the wind!”
