· His unexplainable fear of the EFCC
· Speculation abound that he might be seeking political asylum overseas
· Close aides reveal that he is embarrassingly scared beneath his brave posturing
Cowards die many times before their deaths; some could pass as brave for their characteristic bluster, if you would pardon their timely headache, occasional cancer and coincidental ‘knee injury’ at the moment when they have to keep a date with comeuppance. Take the hilarious case of Kingsley Kuku for instance, despite his initial posturing, the former Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, is scared silly of the invitation extended to him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Kuku is yet to honour the EFCC’s invitation for questioning on allegations of fraud. He had earlier failed to appear before the commission on July 28, a few weeks after the anti-graft agency invited him for interrogation citing a knee injury, for which he was receiving treatment at St Andrew hospital, Alabama in the United States (US), as his reason for ignoring the invitation of the agency. He also denied claims that he was a fugitive, emphasising that he was a patriotic Nigerian, who would return home to clear his name. Rather than return to the country to honour the EFCC’s invitation, Kuku sponsored a photo-ops on social media posting a picture of his knee in bandage. “I am a patriotic Nigerian; I have a future and image to protect. Therefore, my integrity is more important to me than the vanity of this world,” he had said in a statement. “I have no foreign bank account, I have no house anywhere apart from Nigeria and I have since returned all government property in my possession before leaving.” Kuku had said through his lawyers that he would “definitely” report to the EFCC latest by 10am on September 30 to face the allegations brought against him. But Wilson Uwujaren, spokesman of the EFCC, on Monday confirmed that the former aide of Jonathan was yet to honour the invitation of the commission.
The Capital findings revealed that contrary to Kuku’s brave posturing, he is very scared of prosecution by the EFCC. Sources close to the former presidential aide reveal that he is desperately considering seeking asylum overseas in order to avoid legal entanglements over his role in the pilfering of Nigeria’s treasury during the immediate past administration. But if Kuku’s hands are truly clean and he actually has “a future and image to protect” like he claimed, why has he turned himself into a fugitive? What could be scaring him from his own country? Are there skeletons in his closet?
