CLAIM: A message circulating on Whatsapp claims that Barr. Wahab Shittu lamented the withdrawal of the corruption charges against former Gombe State Governor, Danjuma Goje, by the Federal Government
CONCLUSION: FALSE
FULL TEXT:
A message attributed to Barrister Wahab Shittu has been circulating on Whatsapp. Barr. Shittu is the lead counsel in the prosecution of former Gombe State Governor, Danjuma Goje. The content of the statement lamented the withdrawal of the case from the court by the Attorney General (AG) of the Federal Republic.
“Honestly this is very sad and a major setback for the Anti-corruption war of this administration. I’m awfully disappointed and pissed off. For 8 years, I risked my life travelling to and from Lagos to Gombe and Jos prosecuting the case for the Federal Government. I called about 25 witnesses and tendered well over 150 exhibits admitted in the proceedings.The court ruled the defendants have a case to answer on 2 of the counts and the stage was set for their defence.
“Suddenly the AG took over the case from the prosecution/EFCC. l dutifully handed over the files with detailed handover notes to assist the AGF. And now this, the state withdrew the charges. 8years of trial time wasted. Sad. Very sad. SUCH IS THE COLOUR OF INTEGRITY UNDER BUHARI’S WATCH, AND SUCH IS THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION”.
A message was sent to Barrister Wahab Shittu, asking if he truly made the statement. He denied it describing it as fake news. Whatsapp users should be wary of messages on the platform that purport to emanate from an authority as it could be false, just like this case!
