Hushpuppi’s saga: No formal report on Abba Kyari with us, says PSC 

By GBENGA OMOKHUNU, Abuja

There is no formal report on Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari over his alleged involvement in Ramon Olorunwa Abbas aka Hushpuppi fraud case with the Police Service Commission (PSC), it was learnt on Saturday.

The Commissioner in charge of Media on the board of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Austin Braimoh disclosed this to our correspondent.

The United States Department of Justice had said ongoing investigations showed that Hushpuppi allegedly bribed Kyari to arrest one Kelly Chibuzo Vincent, one of his accomplices in Nigeria.

According to a court document released by the United States Department of Justice on Wednesday, titled: ‘Six Indicted in International Scheme to Defraud Qatari School Founder and then Launder over $1 Million in Illicit Proceeds’, Kyari was alleged to have been bribed to arrest one Kelly Chibuzor Vincent, 40, in Nigeria, who created bogus documents and arranged for the creation of a fake bank website and phone banking line to support the defrauding of a business person trying to provide $1.1m for.

Kyari denied the allegations, stating that he did not demand any money from Hushpuppi,

The Commander of the IGP Intelligence Response and Monitoring Team said he never demanded a dime from Hushpuppi, admitting his focus was to save people’s lives that were purported to have been threatened.

The report prompted the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to order a review of the information on Kyari.

Braimoh, while reacting to the development told our correspondent the PSC would not be bound by the IG’s review of the allegations against Kyari, noting the commission has no position on the allegation for now.

He added that a formal report must come from the appropriate quarters to the commissioner before anything is done.

He said the Attorney General and Minister of Justice need to guide the nation on what to do on the matter.

His words: “The PSC has no position on the allegations against DCP Abba Kyari for now.This is because no formal report is before the Commission on the officer. All we presently hear are mare allegations from media outlets. No constitutional body works with such.

“A formal report must come to the Commission from somewhere or someone.

Besides, we heard that a United States Court either indicted or ordered his arrest. It sounds strange to me that a US court could order the arrest of a noncitizen, a Nigerian citizen resident in Nigeria. Nigeria is a sovereign nation with it’s laws and justice systems. We surely must be guided by our own attorney general.

“And also guided by our own courts, internal investigations and to trust our justice system. I’m not aware of any petition against the said officer before the police Service Commission. If the IGP has one, we believe that he will do justice to it and forward to us for necessary action at the appropriate stage”. (The Nation)