Jammeh didn’t steal $11M with APC leader’s jet

monjola sotubo

January 24, 2017 2:29 PM

Jammeh left The Gambia on board a jet belonging to All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Former Gambian President,

However, sources close to the matter have denied that Jammeh used Tinubu’s jet to steal public funds.

“No such happened. In fact, it was impossible for looted monies to have been taken away on an aircraft that was in public glare. The radar of the international media, security forces and Gambian people was on the aircraft,” a source told The Nation.

“It is practically impossible to load millions of dollars on the plane. In any case, no money was loaded into the plane, safe Guinean President Conde, Jammeh, his wife, mother and son,” the source added.

Jammeh was forced to leave The Gambia for exile in Equatorial Guinea after refusing to hand over power despite losing the December 1, 2016 election to Adama Barrow.

The former Gambian president has been accused of stealing $11 million from the country’s treasury.

The allegation was made by Barrow’s adviser, Mai Fatty who said that the nation’s coffers were “largely empty.”

“Over two weeks, over 500m dalasi ($11 million) were withdrawn by Jammeh. As we take over, the government of The Gambia is in financial distress,” Fatty told journalists in Senegal.

Jammeh left The Gambia after holding talks with Guinean President Alpha Conde and Mauritania’s President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz.

His departure followed the arrival of regional troops into The Gambia in preparation for a forceful removal.

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Tinubu was said to have released his private jet on the condition that Jammeh would leave Gambia immediately.

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