FORMER finance minister ex secretary to the federal government and one-time presidential candidate Chief Olu Falae has been kidnapped by unknown gunmen from his farm at Ago-Abo near Akure the Ondo State capital.
Chief Falae, who turns 76 today, was apparently abducted while on his farm, where he has worked since his retirement from public service. He was secretary to the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida from January 1986 to December 1990 and was briefly the finance minister in 1990 before resigning to run for president in 1999.
A renowned economist, Chief Falae attended the University of Ibadan for his undergraduate studies before pursuing a post-graduate programme at Yale University in the US. Chief Falae was jailed by the military government of General Sani Abacha but was released in June 1998 after Abacha's death, after which he unsuccessfully contested the 1999 presidential elections on the joint platform of the Alliance for Democracy and the All People's Party against the eventual winner Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
Kidnapping for ransom has become big business in Nigeria over recent years, with several high profile politicians and their families abducted. Former finance minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala once had her parents kidnapped and immediate past president Dr Goodluck Jonathan once had his uncle abducted.
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