NATIONAL: Amosun transferred N12.5m to “PMB Estate” not to Buhari, says Presidency

THE Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Thursday, debunked the reports that President Buhari, in connivance with former governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, siphoned N12.5m from the coffers of the gateway state.

Shehu, who described the reports by some online media outlets as “gossipy”, in a message he posted yesterday on social media stressed that the money in question was transferred to the ” PMB Estate” during Amosun’s tenure as governor of Ogun State.

He explained that the President Muhammadu Buhari Estate in Abeokuta belonged to the state government and was only named after the President.

Shehu wrote, “Fake news industry at work. A certain document showing the transfer of N12,500,000 from the coffers of Ogun State to a ‘PMB Estate’ is being circulated to tarnish the image of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The PMB Estate is owned by the Ogun State Government, which honoured the President by naming it after him. Of course, that does not confer the ownership of the estate on President Buhari.

“The gossipy online newspaper peddling the falsehood that the President, Muhammadu Buhari, the tried and tested anti-corruption fighter is the beneficiary of this cash transfer should be ignored.”