I have never stolen N10b- Al-Mustapha
Hamza Al-Mustapha, the Action Alliance’s presidential candidate, claims he has never taken or stolen any of the country’s riches but has instead defended them and refused to give up when under pressure from certain individuals.
“I don’t have money, I have never stolen N10. I challenged two governments; I challenged Abdulsalam Abubakar’s government and I challenged (Olusegun) Obasanjo’s government. They searched.
“I was ransacked by bigger international investigative agencies (and the) police. My eyes and thumbprint were taken all around the whole world, and they saw nothing. But rather than tell the whole world my clean record, they kept it aside,” he said on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm aired on Tuesday.
Al-Mustapha served as the late General Sani Abacha’s chief security officer while he served as the military head of state from 1993 to 1998.
He claims that those who accused him unjustly of murder, a coup attempt, drug trafficking, and money laundering did him a “disservice,” yet he has pardoned them.
“I faced 14 judges in 15 years, and that has been cleared, and there is no iota of it,” he stated.
He said his opponents sought to kill him using legal and illicit ways because they wanted to inherit Abacha’s wealth after seizing control.
“Why did they want to kill me? It is simply because of what I know. I found myself in a situation where I refused to compromise Nigeria, and that refusal has cost me,” the AA presidential candidate.
In response to the question of how people view him now that he is vying for the presidency of Nigeria in 2023, he stated, “I am not bothered; I’m a victim of perception or effect of propaganda over time.
“I suffered from propaganda for 15 years with torture trying to just give me a bad name, just for me not to survive.”
“In 2019, we discovered 18 attempts to kill me. As of 2013, when I came out, I was aware of 11 attempts,” he noted.
Al-Mustapha reflected on his 15-year journey and claimed that while it caused him psychological trauma, he has since recovered. “In 15 years, a serving military officer has been treated daily in chains around the hands, legs, and neck, like an animal. In total, I spent five years and two months in solitary confinement. In 15 years, my parents were only permitted to see me twice, he recalled.
Al-Mustapha stated that he built himself while incarcerated and is prepared to serve Nigerians in 2023.
“I have been part of the government for decades, and I know these problems. We created numerous things for Nigeria, and records speak,” he said.
“My background speaks for itself in terms of building this country.”
