Many days after raging furore over the arrest
of Alhaji Babalele Abdullahi, who is the son-in-law to the defeated
presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday owned up picking up the man.
The Commission while admitting for the first time that its
operatives arrested Babalele, who is also the Finance Director of Atiku’s group
of companies, justified the arrest of the man, saying that he was engaged in
money laundering to the tune of €150 million.
The anti-graft agency did not however specify how the huge
sum was laundered or where it originated and where it terminated. But learnt
that authoritatively Atiku’s son-in-law was taken away by security agents on
the suspicion that he could use hard currency to unduly influence the outcome
of many polls taking place in the country.
Although the EFCC had initially kept mute over the arrest of Babalele, the agency to try to douse rising tension over the detention of the man, admitting that he was in its custody but did not indicate the exact location where the man was being kept. A source in the commission said that Babalele is being investigated over alleged case of money laundering and the sum involved is €150 million.