The fall of Speaker Dimeji Bankole from grace to grace has elicited sneers and jeers from a cross-section of the Nigerian society and had also produced numerous conspiracy theories on what motivated him to be so reckless. Two weeks ago, the media was filled with one of such theories; that the speaker Dimeji Bankole had kept a harem of women – women with high maintenance needs and in order for him to satisfy their material cravings, he had to engage in unethical conducts, of which he is paying for today. Two prominent women were named in the story – a former senator and the defeated gubernatorial candidate in Kwara state – Senator Ggbemi Saraki and a leading Nollywood actress – the delectable Ini Edo. According to the story, Speaker Bankole had spent billions of Naira on both ladies and was alleged to have bought a huge mansion for Ini Edo in Maitama – one of the choicest areas in Abuja, where an average home goes for about $2 million.
Ini Edo denied ever meeting Bankole, she had this to say:
“I have never in my whole life met Dimeji Bankole”, Ini Edo had started “and I am greatly pained by the media’s linkage of my name in the whole saga. I have only seen Bankole, like millions of other Nigerians on television. If I ran into him on the street, I would not recognize him. For a journalist to cook up such a story and link an innocent person like me to it is truly shocking. Do they realize that I am a happily married woman? How would they feel if they were in my shoes? If I had the kind of money they say Dimeji Bankole spent on me, I would not be in Nigeria today. I would be travelling the world – visiting some exotic vacation spots and having the time of my life.”
On the alleged home Bankole bought for her in Maitama district of Abuja, Ini was short for words “I don’t own a house in Maitama, and no one bought me a house there. Again, how can a journalist be so reckless with facts? A little investigation on their part, or merely reaching out to me when they got wind of the rumor would have saved the journalist the embarrassment of putting out this false story. The whole nation knows that Dimeji Bankole has been in the custody of the EFCC, if it were true that he had spent part of the money on me, as reported by the media, wouldn’t the EFCC be on my neck and would have invited me to their office for me to explain what I knew about his source of wealth? But here I am, in my house, cooking food for my husband, and no one from the EFCC has invited me. The agency I believe must be laughing at the media for falling for a ridiculous story like this. The fact remains, I have never met Dimeji Bankole, I am a happily married woman and Dimeji Bankole did not spend a dime of his on me.”
On the alleged home Bankole bought for her in Maitama district of Abuja, Ini was short for words “I don’t own a house in Maitama, and no one bought me a house there. Again, how can a journalist be so reckless with facts? A little investigation on their part, or merely reaching out to me when they got wind of the rumor would have saved the journalist the embarrassment of putting out this false story. The whole nation knows that Dimeji Bankole has been in the custody of the EFCC, if it were true that he had spent part of the money on me, as reported by the media, wouldn’t the EFCC be on my neck and would have invited me to their office for me to explain what I knew about his source of wealth? But here I am, in my house, cooking food for my husband, and no one from the EFCC has invited me. The agency I believe must be laughing at the media for falling for a ridiculous story like this. The fact remains, I have never met Dimeji Bankole, I am a happily married woman and Dimeji Bankole did not spend a dime of his on me.”
No comments:
Post a Comment