Amina Mohammed denies involvement in $300m scam as minister

- Mrs Mohammed said as minister under President Buhari, she tried to fight against graft in the environment ministry

- She explains that she believes in protecting the environment

Mrs Amina Mohammed, the deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, has denied any involvement in a $300 million timber scandal as reported recently.

Speaking with The Cable, Mohammed denied the allegation as she explained that her she worked to end the illegal export of the hardwood used for rosewood furniture in China.

“No permits were backdated or illegally signed by me. We are therefore appalled if any legally obtained or forged certificates were used by unscrupulous rosewood traders to circumvent exportation procedures.

“Not only do I decry fraud and corruption, we also categorically reject any allegations of corruption or coercion in our effort to better address illegal logging and exportation.

“I categorically deny receiving any bribe. It has never been in my character. I never demanded neither did I collect any bribe, either cash or material,” she said.

“One of the first issues I had to deal with was deforestation. It was a huge concern as Nigeria was losing its forest cover at an alarming rate.

“For me, protecting the environment is sacrosanct. When I was minister, one of my first acts was to tackle illegal logging. What I found on ground was alarming,” she added.

There were claims Amina was involved in the illegal export of African rosewood from Nigeria to China in a trade deal.

The earlier reports quoted the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) as releasing a documentary video which indicted her.

News earlier reported that Amina Mohammed was linked to a bribery and illicit trade scandal.

According to Premium Times, Mrs Mohammed was alleged to have authorised export of endangered timber, rosewood, to China in her last days as Nigeria’s minister for environment.

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