A former Presidential Liaison Officer to ex-President Shehu Sagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, has denied receiving N63million from Chief Tony Anenih as the latter alleged in a letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Yakassai said this in a telephone interview with our Correspondent on Wednesday. The elder statesman was reacting to news reports that he collected the said sum from Chief Tony Anenih.
He explained that while it was true that he received an amount of money from the former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees, for an assignment, the money was not up to the amount quoted.
Pressed to say how much he received, Yakassai said he was not at liberty to say because the matter is in court and that it is when they both go to court that each party will tender evidence to back up his claim.
Yakassai said, “The amount being bandied about is not what was given to me. It is true Chief Anenih gave the committee of eminent persons which I headed some funds for our assignment, the money being quoted is not what we received.
“The committee of nine persons which I led was given an assignment to reach out to traditional rulers on the need for them to ensure peaceful elections in their domains because there was tension in prior to the 2015 general elections.
“We went round 18 states and Abuja where we met two in each of the states we visited, we started with the Sultan of Sokoto, we could not meet with traditional rulers in Gombe because on the day of our visit, Boko Haram attacked the town and there were reports that they were targeting the Government House where we were at that time.”
Asked whether the committee gave money to any of the traditional rulers, Yakasai said, “No. We were not given any money to give any of them and we did not give them any money.
“The money the committee received was for logistics such as transport and accommodation. We wrote a report after our assignment which started on January 14 and ended on February 15, 2015, the records are there.”
The elder statesman said he was prepared to defend the activities of the committee when required to do so because the committee performed its assignment creditably and transparently.
