Silence is universally accepted to be golden. But not all the time. Silence, in the face of a deluge of deliberate and malicious falsehood, may mean consent or even cowardice.
Francis Ogboro, an international businessman, is neither a coward nor consenting to the groundswell of allegations that he is a conduit of corruption for Ibrahim Magu, the beleaguered acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Alhaji Ogboro has stated emphatically that he has never met Magu before and they have never done any business together. His rebuttal is coming on the heels of a presidential panel’s investigation into allegations of corruption, insubordination and abuse of office levelled against Magu bythe Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. Magu was arrested Monday and reports indicate that he has been suspended from office as investigations continue into the allegations.
“Ordinarily, I would not dignify rumours on social media with a response but sometimes, it is better to quickly nip such rumours in the bud before they assume a life of their own and people hold unto them as the Holy Grail without cross-checking the facts. I am not a business partner to Mr Magu. I have never met him before. I have never done any business with him. I only know him as every other Nigerian does as the boss of the anti-graft agency.
“I take serious exception to any attempt to link me with him or insinuation that I serve as a conduit for him or his agents or even the agency to siphon money. I will not hesitate to bring to bear the full weight of the law on any media house or person that enables such rumours to fester.”
Some officials of the EFCC who spoke to this medium anonymously said, “Alhaji Ogboro’s name or company never came up during Magu’s interrogation. He is not one of those businessmen who mill around the EFCC headquarter neither have we ever seen him with Magu. We are not even sure they are acquainted. Those linking him with Magu’s troubles should provide evidence of their relationship.”
Ogboro added that over the past three decades that he has been doing business, he has never been involved in any shady dealing. For as long as one can remember, affluence has been Ogboro’s friend and those who know him well enough describe him as upright, transparent, stylish, selfless and influential.
