Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has denied allegations of tax fraud in the United States describing them as fake and malicious.
In a statement which he personally signed on Wednesday titled, ‘Allegations of tax evasion, fraud against me untrue, politically motivated’ Kachikwu denied the allegations.
The presidential candidate went on to posit that the allegations were propagated by his political opponents who were unhappy with his recent victory at the ADC Presidential primary a few weeks ago.
The Roots TV boss, therefore, urged his teeming supporters to pay no heed to the online reports that the US government had indicted him for tax evasion running into millions of dollars.
The statement which was obtained by Africa Daily News, New York read in part, ‘A few days ago, my campaign team received information that one of the aspirants who lost out in the just concluded ADC presidential primaries was planning a series of smear campaigns against me.’
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‘I was therefore not surprised when I saw this story. Contrary to the information being peddled, I was assessed an additional $9m several years ago by the US Inland Revenue Service.
‘This amount was reduced to $2m and when the IRS sued to collect the amount, my lawyers didn’t contest it and instead waited for a default judgement in order to go to the next stage which is making an offer in compromise to reduce the amount to be paid. This is a standard legal practice in tax matters.’
Kachikwu went on to also deny allegations that he delivered a bribe to convicted US Congressman, William Jefferson.
The ADC candidate pointed out that rather, he was the one who reported the former Congressman to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria.
The statement further read, ‘(The report) claimed I had delivered a $100,000 cash bribe to curry the favour of the former US Congressman. This is another lie as multiple evidence abounds online clearly showing I was the victim who reported the US congressman to the EFCC and the FBI for defrauding my company.
‘I have now instructed my lawyers to sue all digital media organisations who participated in the dissemination of this falsehood.’
The Roots TV boss said he was sure of victory in next year’s Presidential election.
Kachikwu, who is a younger brother to a former Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, surprisingly defeated a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, to win the ADC’s Presidential ticket.
