The Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi says President Muhammadu Buhari will have the final consideration on DCP Abba Kyari’s involvement in an international money laundering scheme.
MR Dingyadi, who on Tuesday was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, stated that the police have done their job properly and transparently.
He explained that the police had investigated the allegations levelled against Mr Kyari and submitted a report to the Inspector General of Police.
According to him, the police committee’s report and recommendations have also been sent to the Minister of justice and will also be presented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before a final action would be taken.
“The issue of Abba Kyari is in the public domain, and I think by now, everybody has heard that the police, in their very wisdom and very usual way of becoming very transparent and being fair to all, have set up a committee to investigate all these allegations.
“And we have also reported that the committee has submitted the report to the IGP, and we have submitted this report and recommendations to the AGF for legal opinion. Thereafter, we will take it to Mr President for final consideration. So, you can see that this matter is a local matter here; it also has some international connotations. So, we have to do some due diligence to ensure that we do the right thing.
“There has to be some consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice, before a final decision is taken. What is important is that Nigerians should know that the police management is up and doing, and they have done what they are supposed to do. I hope people will wait and see what action is going to be taken on this matter,” the minister explained.
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In clarifying the role of the Police Service Commission (PSC) on the probe of Kyari, the minister said “the investigation is supposed to be done by the police, because he is their staff.
“We have informed the Police Service Commission, and they have directed that the officer be suspended from duty, pending the outcome of the investigation.
“By the time we finish this thing, we’ll refer what is needed to be referred to the Police Service Commission for final action. So, I think it is the police who have the responsibility to investigate,” he added.
Abba Kyari, a Nigerian Deputy Commissioner of Police was earlier in the year accused of benefiting from an international fraud case involving Ramon Abbas popularly known as Hushpuppi.
According to a US court document, Hushpuppi allegedly bribed Kyari, to arrest and jail Chibuzo Vincent, an estranged ‘co-conspirator,’ in a $1.1 million fraud case.
The document also revealed that Hushpuppi pleaded guilty to the multi-million-dollar fraud charges filed against him by the United States Government and explained how the proceeds from the crime were spent.
Mr Kyari denied his involvement in the scheme, saying that he collected money to help Hushpuppi sew some clothes and later said he acted as a debt collector for Hushpuppi in a Facebook post which has since been deleted.
Investigations into the matter were launched by the Police Force and findings from the probe by the Special Investigative Panel have been submitted to the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba.
Upon receiving the report, the IGP assured that a careful and expeditious review of the recommendations would be undertaken by the Force Management Team and thereafter forwarded to appropriate quarters for necessary action(s).
