Reprieve may be coming the way of the embattled Senator representing Ogun East, Buruji Kashamu, as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Odigie Oyegun has vowed to see to it that he (Kashamu) is saved from being extradited to the United States of America (USA) to face trial for his alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
Senator Kashamu was however said to have been told in clear terms that he should formally decamp to the APC and accept Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun as his leader as the only condition for the federal government to intervene in his matter.
The Senator was said to have argued that he should rather be allowed to remain in PDP and continue to work for the APC, but Oyegun objected, arguing that the power brokers in the APC, especially Governor Amosun do not trust him (Kashamu) to that extent, more so that he is also interested in the Ogun State governorship in 2019.
Sources said Senator Kashamu met with Chief Oyegun in Abuja on Monday night and he was assured by the APC national chairman that; “For all that you have done for our party, and most importantly that the new United States President, Donald Trump is not friendly with our government, we will resist any attempt to extradite you.”
Oyegun, who was full of praises for Senator Kashamu for his roles in ensuring victory for the APC in Edo and Ondo States governorship elections, was quoted to have said that the moment Senator Kashamu joins APC, he will ensure that the federal government do everything within its powers to prevent the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator from being extradited to United States.
Our source disclosed that to assure Senator Kashamu of his seriousness, Chief Oyegun called the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who also assured that all necessary legal means will be deployed to frustrate any move by the United States government to extradite the Senator.
“Senator has assisted our party and our government greatly. It is partly to his credit that PDP lost Edo and Ondo States governorship elections and that PDP remained destabilised. This is a payback time and we will stand by him at this trying period so as to give other PDP top-shots willing to join our party the assurance that we will always protect them.
“You can see what we have done for Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, Senator Joshua Dariye, and even the Senate President, Bukola Saraki. Now that Saraki has opted to team up with us and behave well, he now has peace of mind,” the source quoted the Attorney General to have said.
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For 18 years, Senator Kashamu has remained in the eyes of the storm, being wanted in the United States for allegedly acting as the kingpin of a drug smuggling and money laundering ring. It was the same operation that landed American author Piper Kerman in jail for a year and inspired her memoir “Orange Is The New Black.”
Kashamu strenuously denies the charges and claims it’s a case of mistaken identity; he says the US really wants his late brother, but he has refused to heed calls that he should visit the United States to clear his name once and for all.
Last week, a United States Appeals Court upheld a ruling against Senator Kashamu.
In an April 2015 filing, Kashamu asked a district court to prevent his “abduction abroad by U.S. authorities.”
The court however dismissed the complaint, and the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling last Monday. It said United States agents’ attempt to arrest Kashamu in coordination with local authorities would not constitute “an attempted abduction
Troubled by this court judgment, the embattled senator warned yesterday, that before anybody could succeed to extradite him to the US to face trial for drug-related offences, “about three, four or five people will die.”
He vowed that any attempt to ‘abduct’ him would be met with violence, saying he planned to engage the services of members of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress for protection.
The senator vowed that any attempt to ‘abduct’ him would be met with violence, and that he planned to engage the services of members of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) for protection.
He said, “There is no extradition that can be brought against me again. The only thing they can do is to watch and catch me on the road; take me to the airport or Cotonou or throw me inside a vessel and take me through the Atlantic Ocean. But I am not going to let that happen. I don’t go to the beach, and now, I will go and hire OPC, may be like 40. I will load them (in my vehicle), because the day we meet, one has to kill one. That is for sure! One has to kill one because I am not ready to go anywhere. Before that happens, maybe about three, four or five people will die.”
