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The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has reacted to criticisms trailing a video showing one of his properties in the United States of America.
Keyamo, currently on vacation in the North American country, shared a video on his Twitter handle, showing him clad in running wear while standing in front of a bungalow in a US neighbourhood.
The video shared on Thursday, April 20, 2023, caused quite a stir on the microblogging site as some users accused the Minister of using public funds to acquire properties abroad.
Reacting to the allegations, Keyamo in another post on his Twitter page on Saturday, April 23, 2023, denied using stolen funds to acquire the property.
While he confirmed that the property belonged to him, the accomplished lawyer said he bought it with money he made from legal practice.
The SAN said he posted the video with the intention to bait the horde of those he described as sore losers at the last elections.
"Expectedly, they fell so terribly for the bait. Being folks of low moral standards, they seem to view everyone from their own depraved universe. Given same position of public trust and authority, I bet they would easily compromise. So, they assume everyone will wallow in the same moral squalor like them," Keyamo said.
Explaining how he acquired the property, the Minister said he, on March 6, 2019, wrote letters to relevant government agencies, informing them of the closure of his foreign account(s) and the repatriation of the funds to the country.
Seeing that the funds were lying idly in his Nigerian account, Keyamo decided to use them to purchase a property out of the country and communicated this to the right agencies in letters dated January 22, 2021.
He said, "I wrote to the relevant government agencies, informing them of the closure of my foreign account(s) and the repatriation of my funds to the country, being some savings I had made as a private legal practitioner and a property investor over decades.
"The numbers of those accounts, both abroad and in Nigeria were clearly stated in those letters. Those foreign funds were lying in my accounts until my appointment as a Minister later in 2019 and formed part of my assets declaration.
"In 2021, I again wrote to the relevant agencies (by letters dated January 22, 2021), informing them of the movement of those funds out of the country to purchase a property as a better investment decision, instead of the funds lying idly in the account whilst I am in public office. The letters were duly acknowledged.
"I followed up again with Whatsapp chats same day to the heads of those agencies, informing them of the delivery of those letters and the contents of the letters and they acknowledged receipt."
Keyamo went on to express his dismay over insinuations by some critics that he could not afford such a relatively modest property from his earnings as a lawyer who has been active for over 30 years.
He added that serving in government was borne out of his love for the country more than anything else because his law chamber and real estate investments fetch him more income than being a minister.
"My flourishing and manned law Chambers (whilst I am away on national assignment) and my real estate investments are still far more financially profitable than serving my country. Ours is a labour of love to my country. My Assets Declaration is there for all to see. (Again, this is verifiable.)
"Some of us don’t need Government funds or patronage to get by. Whatever we do and whoever we support is out of our deep convictions. And yes, we have worked our socks off in the last 30 years!" Keyamo concluded.