Former Central Bank governor Godwin Emefiele, ex-Attorney-General Abubakar Malami (SAN), and former Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai have dismissed claims linking them to terrorism financing.
The trio reacted to a report by an online platform that mentioned their names in connection with alleged terrorism financiers and supposed links to terror suspects.
Emefiele described the report as reckless, mischievous and completely fabricate, saying it was intended to malign his name and mislead the public.
He said he had never, either in office or in private life, engaged in any activity connected to terrorism or actions capable of undermining national security.
“The allegation is baseless, misleading, and crafted purely to sow confusion for motives best known to its authors and their sponsors,” he said.
“The fight against terrorism is too important to be trivialised by irresponsible reporting, and Nigerians deserve better than such reckless misinformation,” he added.
Emefiele said there was “no scintilla of truth” in the report and urged the public to disregard it, while warning media organisations against publishing unverified claims.
Malami said the claim was unfounded, unfair and politically motivated, insisting that he had never been accused, summoned, interrogated or investigated by any security or intelligence agency over terrorism financing.
“I state clearly and unequivocally that I have never at any time been accused, invited, interrogated, investigated, or charged by any security, law-enforcement, regulatory, or intelligence agency, within or outside Nigeria, in respect of terrorism financing or any related offence,” he said.
He added that even the retired military officer cited in the report admitted he was not accusing him or others of financing terrorism, but merely claimed there were vague “business” or “institutional” relationships.
Malami said such reporting created misleading impressions and was exploited by political opponents to damage his reputation.
He warned that terrorism financing is a grave crime that should not be linked to individuals without verifiable facts, due process and lawful findings.
The former AGF cited reforms he initiated, including the creation of an independent Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the passage of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which he said helped Nigeria exit the FATF grey list.
Buratai, in a statement signed by former army spokesperson Sani Kukasheka Usman (rtd), described the allegation as false, unfounded, and a smear campaign designed to tarnish his reputation.
He said he had never been questioned, investigated or linked to terrorism financing by any official body.
The statement accused the online platform of relying on unverified claims by Major General Danjuma Ali-Keffi (rtd), describing the report as malicious and without factual or legal foundation.
Buratai, a former ambassador to the Benin Republic, said it was illogical to link him to terrorism financing, noting that he spent over four decades fighting terrorism and significantly degraded Boko Haram and ISWAP during his tenure as army chief.
He called on the platform and Ali-Keffi to retract the publication and issue an unreserved apology, warning that failure to do so would attract legal action.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.