I never brought investors to Ogun nor received $2,000 salary, says El-Rufai

The erstwhile Senior Special Assistant on Housing to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Bidemi Rufai, who was recently convicted for COVID-19 fraud in the United States of America has denied a media report that he brought some investors to the state

Rufai made the clarification on Thursday night in a phone chat with an online news medium in Nigeria from the Federal Prison in the USA.

A report by an online medium, People’s Gazette, had published that Rufai during his short stint as one of the aides to the governor always collected $50,000 each time he brought an investor to the state.

It was also reported that Rufai received a sum of $2,000 monthly salary.

The Ogun state government had debunked the report, claiming that Rufai neither brought any investor to Ogun nor received special emoluments from the ones stipulated by the appropriate authority.

Speaking further during the phone chat, Rufai said that it was unfortunate that he got himself involved in the fraudulent activities but denied ever dragging the name of the government into the fraud mess.

In the chat which took place between 8:19pm and 8:27pm, he was quoted to have said, ” Yes, I am speaking from a sane mind as I need to make this crucial clarification.

“I am granting this interview with you from my Transfer Centre in Oklahoma from where I will head to New Jersey, my designated institution in a matter of a few days.

“Please let it be on record that I never granted any interview or claimed during my trial that I was bringing investors to Ogun state. My salary as SSA to Gov Abiodun was N300,000 monthly and this you can verify. Again, the issue of being paid $50,000 dollars for bringing investors only existed in the mind of those who are spreading the twisted report.

“I regret every bit of my action for getting involved in the COVID-19 fraud. It was a huge disappointment and I have become remorseful after all. I am hoping to face my rehabilitation process of some educational programmes in the prison here.

“But please note once again that the report of bringing investors and getting $50,000 dollars was satanic and false.

“I am not a stranger to challenges, but the major obsession for me is finding ways to turn my challenges into amazing opportunities. This is what I am trying to do in the prison institution,” Rufai stated.

(Vanguard)