By Our Reporter
The United Arab Emirate based Nigerian Gold merchant, Alh. Rabiu Auwalu Tijjani recently declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over allegations of money laundering etc, has raised concern that the hasty and wrongful action of the anti – graft agency may rob Nigeria of his planned establishment of gold refinery in the country.
He said in an affidavit deposition in support of his Fundamental Human Right Enforcement Suit against the anti-graft agency through one of his Counsel filed at the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna that he was recently granted license through his company – Special Stone Jewellery to establish the first ever gold refinery in the nation’s Federal Capital, Abuja.
He said the hasty/unjust action of the anti-graft agency in declaring him wanted without any formal invitation and despite sending a representative with documents to proof his innocence has caused unimaginable damages to his person, businesses and in particular, constituting a major disservice to his on-going process of establishing the first ever Gold Refinery in Nigeria as his co-investors are already having a re-think.
Alh. Awalu Rabiu exhibited the license recently granted to his company to establish the gold refinery by the present Nigerian government along with the design of the proposed Gold Refinery to his court processes to justify his claims and concerns which the hast act of the EFCC may cause to the actualization of the project in Nigeria.
He stated further vide paragraph 3d of his supporting affidavit that all through his decades of business, he has consistently remained a good ambassador of his country Nigeria and has by the nature of his businesses, been adding value to the growth of the Nigerian economy in terms of the volume of inflow of foreign exchange into the Nigerian economy thereby making him an active player in aiding stabilization of the naira in no small measure.