Obasanjo says Yaradua persecuted Ribadu because of a woman, reveals why Kingibe fought El-Rufai

The unceremonious removal of former
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC boss, Nuhu Ribadu from office and the
persecutions that followed had been linked to
his refusal to marry one of the daughters of
late President Umaru Yaradua and his
“dragging” of a woman with a supposed most
powerful man in Yaradua’s government,
Taminu Yakubu Kurfi by former. President
Olusegun Obasanjo in his new controversial
book, My Watch established the link.
The former president also revealed in the
book that the fight between former FCT
minister, Nasir El rufai and former Secretary
to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji
Babagana Kingibe has to do with one of the
wives of the former scribe to the FG.
In the height of Ribadu’s travails in the
hands of the Yar’ adua administration, he
was removed as EFCC chairman, demoted to
the rank of Deputy Commissioner of police
from Assistant Inspector General and
eventually dismissed.
Though, it was originally believed that
Ribadu was being hounded by the
administration because of his recalcitrant
insistence on continuing with the
prosecution of James Ibori, former governor
of Delta state and Yar’Adua’s close ally.
Though OBJ did not dismiss the link, he
nevertheless said Ribadu’s refusal to marry
Yar’Adua’s daughter could have contributed
his travails then.
Throwing on why Ribadu fell out with
Taminu Yakubu Kurfi, Obasanjo wrote that
Kurfi had his eyes on a woman who was said
to be more interested in the former EFCC
chairman.
“It was revealed, for instance, that Tanimu’s
main reason for wanting to fight Nuhu to a
standstill was the allegation that a woman he
was interested in marrying was showing
more interest in Nuhu! I understand that
Tanimu, in the end, married the lady and I
wondered if that would be the end of the war
of attrition against Nuhu.
“This was about the same time that Umaru
encouraged Nuhu to marry one of his
daughters, an idea which Nuhu spurned.
Could that have been partly responsible for
Umaru’s fury?
On El rufai-Kingibe’s affair, Obasanjo alleged
that Babagana Kingibe had a personal fall-out
with Nasir el-Rufai over the infidelity of one
of Kingibe’s wives.
OBJ wrote: “The Kingibe case as revealed is
quite similar to Tanimu’s, as a woman is at
the centre of it also. Nasir el-Rufai was
accused of knowingly harbouring a boyfriend
of one of Kingibe’s wives in his guest house,
where this wife and her boyfriend would
meet.
“If Nasir chose to make his house available
to his friend out of hospitality, one wonders
if he could also determine which guest, male
or female, his friend would receive. It would
have been a different case if Nasir himself
was accused of dating Kingibe’s wife!”