Alleged N90 billion FIRS funds: Osinbajo offers to waive immunity to prove innocence

 

• As VANGUARD recants, apologises to VP

 

BY OUR EDITOR

Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo has offered to waive his constitutional immunity to prove his innocence following series of allegation, particularly the alleged issue of FIRS N90 billion APC campaign funds, against him in the media.

APC former deputy national publicity secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, had alleged that the spate of political issues that the vice president had experienced lately had nothing to do with politics but alleged mismanagement of the said FIRS fund.

Frank had issued a statement saying he stood by his allegation even after the FIRS had come out to deny the allegation and threatened to sue him if he did not retract the statement and apologise within 24 hours.

But speaking for the first time Wednesday on the allegation, Prof Osinbajo offered, via his Twitter handle, to relinquish his immunity if only to prove his innocence of the allegation.

Tweeted @ProfOsinbajo: “In the past few days, a spate of reckless and malicious falsehoods have (has) been peddled in the media against me by a group of malicious individuals.

“The defamatory and misleading assertions invented by this clique have been making the social media rounds anonymously.

“I have today instructed the commencement of legal action against two individuals, one Timi Frank and another Katch Ononuju, who have put their names to these odious falsehoods.

“I will waive my constitutional immunity to enable the most robust adjudication of these claims of libel and malicious falsehood. ~YO.”

Meanwhile, VANGUARD online, one of the mainstream media that gave vent to the allegation by Frank has retracted the story and apologised to the vice president.

In a statement ostensibly signed by the online editor, VANGUARD wrote: “On our website publication of Monday, September 23, 2019, we published a story titled N90 Bn FIRS Election Fund: Osinbajo’s problem, not 2023 politics.

“We have since discovered that the story lacks factual substance and we hereby retract it in its entirety.

“We tender our profound apology to Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on whom the story touches directly, the All Progressives Congress, A.P.C.  and the FIRS for any inconvenience or embarrassment the publication has occasioned them.

“We hold Professor Osinbajo, S.A.N. in the highest esteem.”