The All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Kwara Central, Mallam Saliu Mustapha is among the prominent politicians being probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Others include Ayodele Fayose, former governor of Ekiti State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, governor of Kano State and Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State.
This platform gathered that the recent quick exit of Mustapha from the country, barely a month after a massive homecoming gathering was held in his honour in Ilorin, was to evade the EFCC.
It would be recalled that several newspapers had featured a story last Friday to the effect that the anti-graft agency had began the probe of some prominent politicians in the country. This medium gathered that Saliu Mustapha, who is also the Turaki of Ilorin, featured prominently on that list.
Since coming into the political limelight, first as the aspirant for the national chairmanship of APC, and currently as the Kwara Central senatorial candidate of the party; questions have been asked about Saliu Mustapha’s unexplained source of wealth, something that has been a source of concern for the majority of elite within Ilorin, his hometown.
A prominent member of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), the foremost socio-political organisation of Ilorin indigenes, who confided in this medium on condition of anonymity observed that it is a thing of concern for many within the town renowned for its deep Islamic root that a foremost chieftaincy title holder like Saliu Mustapha has question marks dotting his source of wealth.
He said, “Every long rope must have its root somewhere. What is the root of the wealth of Saliu Mustapha? Where and when did he starts making his money? You can’t just come wealthy all of a sudden without a history of your growth and how you build the wealth; it just doesn’t add up.”
Watchers of political scene in Kwara have also queried the fact that barely two months into what is arguably the first political battle of his life, Saliu Mustapha has not been seen in Ilorin in recent weeks and have attended most events he was invited to by proxy. The initial rumour making the rounds when people began to wonder about his absence was that he has gone broke. However, this medium can now authoritatively confirmed that the real reason for his persistent absence is to dodge the EFCC surveillance around Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).
Meanwhile, it is gathered that unlike many other politicians who are being probed for money laundering, EFCC is investigating Saliu Mustapha for forex racketeering.