Abba Kyari denied receiving payments from Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas to jail gang member Chibuzo Vincent on Tuesday, saying the infamous fraudster just handed him receipts for a N8 million transaction to assist him in recovering a loan.

Mr Kyari’s remark was a significant departure from his earlier defence following his indictment by the US. On July 29, the police chief stated in a Facebook statement that he had no ties to Hushpuppi and that the scam artist just handed him N300,000 to help him buy native clothing.

But, after the Peoples Gazette reported on how he got N8 million from Hushpuppi, Mr Kyari revised his tale and amended his Facebook post on Tuesday night, as he faced massive public mockery and police administrative action.

He said the N8 million reported by The Gazette, which was subsequently reported by other media outlets, was for him to collect as an outstanding debt owed to Hushpuppi, and not as a bribe for him to hold Chibuzo for the scamming of Qatari businessperson to pull through as alleged by the FBI in court filings.

“Nobody demanded or collected any money from Abbas Hushpuppi. He can be interviewed Publicly in the Presence of world media by the people holding him to confirm this. He also called for another case in June 2020 and complained about a financial transaction with a second person whom he said his friend sent 8million naira to and pleaded for his friends money to be recovered.

“He sent transaction slips and other evidences to prove their case against the person, All these can be verified from the Hushpuppi since he is still in Custody. And it can be verified from person who collected the 8million naira from Hushpuppi’s friend whom they complained about is alive and is in Nigeria. Generally Whatever investigation steps/Tactics that is being taken in most cases especially on the Parties in this type of case from January to June is not for public consumption. This is the true storey,” Mr Kyari said.

Mr Kyari erased the entire message from his Facebook page just four hours after revising his tale. He did not respond to The Gazette’s requests for comment on why he removed the message.