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Tag: Bukola Saraki

  • At 85, Obasanjo remains a source of pride to Nigeria, Africa – Saraki

    At 85, Obasanjo remains a source of pride to Nigeria, Africa – Saraki

    Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has described ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo as a man who at 85 years remains the pride of Nigeria and Africa.

    Saraki in a goodwill message to mark the birthday of his former boss under whom he served as Special Assistant (Budget Matters) between 2000 and 2002, stated that Obasanjo laid the solid foundation that ensured the survival of democracy in the country.

    He noted that in the same vein, the former President continued to play a key role in achieving peace, unity, and development of the continent as he still serves in different capacities to entrench stability across Africa.

    “Baba, you have continued to bring honour to our country, Nigeria, and her over 200 million citizens. For decades, you have been the pride of our dear nation and its flagbearer in striving for the maintenance of peace not only in Africa but across the globe.

    “From your peacekeeping role in Congo in the 1960s as a young army officer to your supportive role in the liberation efforts in Angola and Zimbabwe when you were military Head of State of Nigeria and the leading efforts you made to bring an end to the apartheid system in the Southern African region, you have always demonstrated your dedication to the unity, peace, security, stability, prosperity, and development of the entire continent.

    “The various institutions that you built between 1999 and 2007 as elected President to remain the symbols of progress that our country has witnessed since the return to democracy. From EFCC, ICPC, UBEC, NCC, TETFUND, and many others, your indelible marks in the sound of time show you on the frontline among the makers of modern Nigeria.

    “I pray that Almighty Allah preserves you to serve Him and humanity for many more years. May you live long and in good health to witness the realization of your dream of a united, prosperous, peaceful, and stronger Nigeria, in particular, and Africa, in general”, Saraki stated.

  • TUNDE ASHAOLU: We have lost a champion – Saraki

    TUNDE ASHAOLU: We have lost a champion – Saraki

    Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki have expressed shock, disbelief and sadness over the sudden death of Mr. Tunde Ashaolu, the Publicity Secretary of Kwara State PDP.

    Ashaolu who celebrated his birthday on Saturday slumped on Sunday evening and died.

    In a statement from the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office in Abuja, Saraki stated that “since we heard the news, my family, our friends, and our entire political structure across the nation have been shocked and heartbroken about the passing of Mr. Tunde Ashaolu, the Publicity Secretary of Kwara State PDP whose demise occured on Sunday evening.

    “Just on Saturday, while celebrating the 50th birthday of one of our political associates who is Tunde’s birthday mate, I told Tunde: “You are 47 now, don’t worry, when you get to 50, we will all still be here to celebrate you. Now, Tunde, our ‘one-man army’ is gone

    “I am devastated by this loss because, in everything that he did, Tunde was exemplary. He was committed to his work; courageous with his words and press statements, and a helping hand to everyone around him.

    “Today, as we mourn our dear Tunde — our comrade, our friend, our brother, a father, a husband, a son, and most importantly, a champion in our fight — we celebrate the tremendous impact that he had on all of us throughout his life.

    :”My prayers are with his father, his wife, other members of his family — and all the friends that he has left behind, who in the hours since his death, have rallied round his family and embraced them through their support. Tunde will be dearly missed”, Saraki added.

  • Electoral Act: Saraki lauds Buhari, NASS, CSOs, Nigerians for working for free polls

    Electoral Act: Saraki lauds Buhari, NASS, CSOs, Nigerians for working for free polls

    Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for finally signing the Electoral Act (amendment) Bill 2022 into law.

    Saraki also hailed the National Assembly, Civil Society Organisations and other Nigerians who remained persistent in insisting that Nigeria deserves a new law that will guarantee free, fair and peaceful poll in 2023 and beyond.

    Saraki in a statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, Head of Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office, noted that while President Buhari deserves commendation for working with the federal legislature and rising above partisan interest to give the country a new law that could reform the electoral process, the big applause should go to the members of the civil society organizations who for the past one year have kept up the pressure and continuously agitated for the passage of the new Electoral Act.

    “Let me specifically commend the effort of CSOs like Adopt A Goal Initiative, Raising New Voices Initiative, Human Rights Advocate, One Love Foundation, To Build The Nation Civil Society, YIAGA Africa, International Press Centre (IPC), Centre for Citizens With Disability (CDD), Albino Foundation, CLEEN Foundation, Institute for Media and Society (IMS), Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF), Human Rights Advocate, Ready to Lead Africa and Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCI), among many others. They have kept the issue of the passage of the Electoral Act on the front burner for the past year. They were unrelenting and with the passage of the law, they deserve to be specially commended. We hope they will continue this good work on other key issues that are very important to the development of our dear country.

    “The youths in these CSOs have yet again proved that they can accomplish any task of nation-building if they set their minds to it. Their persistence, positive energy, and constructive agitation have contradicted any claim that Nigerian youths are lazy. Rather, the youths of today are reminding us of the role their forebears in the Nationalist struggle of the pre-independence era, particularly, the National Youth Movement (NYM), played in bringing an end to colonial rule.

    “I enjoin these youths in the CSOs to take their efforts to another level. That is the level of mobilising their numerous colleagues to go and register to vote in the coming general elections. The new law provides an opportunity for all Nigerians of age 18 and above to be part of the efforts to build a better future for our country. They have the chance to have their voices heard loudly. We can all choose a better way and a better future. If we want a fresh start, if we want a new direction for Nigeria, we all have to vote for it.

    “The new Electoral Act brings us closer to having free, fair, and peaceful elections in which people’s votes count, where the majority will have their way and the minority will have their say. For too long, the old electoral law had been part of the problem. We can now seek to elect our leaders having in mind the current challenges facing our country.

    “With a new Electoral Act, we can move on to debating real solutions to the problems of insecurity, creation of jobs, strengthening of the economy, cementing national unity and building a better future for all Nigerians”, Saraki stated.

    Saraki recalled the various efforts that he and his colleagues made in the 8th National Assembly to give the country a new Electoral Act which led to their submitting the Bill four different times without getting the presidential assent.

    “That is why it is with great joy that I welcome the news that the country finally a new Electoral Act. It is better late than never”, the former Senate President stated.

  • Take fight against drug abuse to borders – Saraki tells FG

    Take fight against drug abuse to borders – Saraki tells FG

    Former President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has called on government and other stakeholders to take the fight against drug abuse to our various borders in order to cut off supply of illicit drugs into the country.

    Represented by Dr. Ali Ahmad, former Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly at the 7th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Northern Broadcasting Media Owners Association in Kano on Monday, Saraki, who spearheaded the 8th Senate’s 2017 Roundtable on the ‘Drug Use Crisis in Nigeria,’ stated that the country must adopt tougher measure to discourage those who want to turn the country into a drug hub in West Africa.

    “The government simply has to get a handle on the problem of ‘supply reduction’ as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) calls it. This must first and foremost start with our porous borders. Since our drug problem and our insecurity problem are indeed interlinked and we certainly do not want to become the drugs hub of West Africa, combating drug abuse and drug trafficking in the North must go hand in hand with combating banditry. Without customers, no bandit-dealers, with no dealers, no customers,” the former Governor of Kwara State said.

    Saraki also called for stricter enforcement of NAFDAC regulations, to enforce the use of prescriptions for certain classes of drugs, while also calling on the media to play a central role in sensitising the public about the dangers of drug abuse.

    He emphasised that with 14.4 percent of Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 64 on drugs, it is important that leaders across the nation develop the necessary political will to adopt sustainable solutions to combat the drug use crisis.

    He said: “Today, possibly triggered by the legislative work done by Eighth Senate, when, as some of you may remember, on December 18, 2017, we convened a roundtable dialogue on the Drug Use Crisis in Nigeria, here in Kano, some pharmaceutical companies have been closed to stop illicit production, but the problem persists.

    “To be frank, the media can play a major role. You can support, if not drive, both ‘supply’ and ‘demand’ reduction. I believe the following three areas are all-natural fits:

    “First, you can play a strong role in awareness-building. Who is better suited than the media to describe the epidemic as just that, and do not let it drop out of the headlines? Likewise, I would imagine this could be supported in particular by highlighting the human interest side. This would ultimately dovetail with campaigns advocating for our state governors to assist in providing more treatment facilities, outreach, and public education. Today, most government health facilities are not staffed and equipped for treatment and care for people with drug use disorders.

    Second, the media is ideally placed to “name and shame”. To provide investigative reporting on drug/pharmaceutical production and sales. Where NAFDAC rules cannot be enforced, for whatever reasons, the media can make a difference. Where things get sold not over the counter but under the counter, their cameras can be pointed. Would the big stories we read about and view or hear about have entered the public space without the emphasis you in the media placed on it? NO. Your reports, incidentally, also indirectly help legislators and law enforcement agencies in their efforts to step indecisively.

    “Third, you could champion an Anti-Drugs Crusade. For example, by ‘de-glamourizing’ those video clips where showbiz kids get stoked up on whatever substances. By linking such activities to the downside of drug abuse. At the same time, you could, and rightly, glamorize the actions of NDLEA, NAFDAC, border patrols – because those are the heroes protecting us,” Dr. Saraki said.

  • PDP ‘OWNERS’ FIGHT ATIKU, SARAKI, KWANKWASO – By Mideno Bayagbon

    PDP ‘OWNERS’ FIGHT ATIKU, SARAKI, KWANKWASO – By Mideno Bayagbon

     

    The fight over who controls the party machinery and where and to whom the party’s presidential flag should go, is generating intense heat in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Up in arms are Governors, who through their not so subtle financial strength have funded the party since the All Progressives Congress (APC), supplanted it and became the governing party.

    As it was the case, when the PDP held sway for 16 years at Aso Rock, and indeed nationally, Governors of the PDP, with Governor Nyesom Wike as arrowhead, have drawn the battle line. They want to be on the driving seat in deciding who should be the party’s flag bearer in the coming presidential election. You can amend that to read, they want possibly one of the governors, to be the flag bearer of the party. Read that too to mean: Nyesom Wike, Aminu Tambuwal, Bala Mohammed, Udom Emmanuel, Ifeanyi Okowa, want to be the kingmakers and one of them probably the king himself.

    The case of Nyesom Wike is well known. It is mainly him and a sprinkling of a few others who carried the party on their shoulders in the last almost seven years. Wike has played the role of the leader of the party, funding it, gathering like minds together, and almost daily “terrorising” the ruling APC government. It was he who put in place the recently dissolved executives of the party, headed by Uche Secondus. To a large extent, he singlehandedly chose a large number of the members of the current executive council of the party. If insiders are to be believed, he brought most of the funds for the convention. Don’t ask me from where he got the money to so do.

    For someone who insiders say is not interested in running for the office of president, but Tuesday warned that no one can stop him should he decide to run for the office, his criss crossing the country, flying his state’s private jet from one state capital to the other, has raised curious eyes even as he has succeeded in mobilising the governors to work together as a team. Nevertheless, how far he has succeeded in his second agenda, zoning the presidency to the South, is yet to be seen.

    Recall his anger during the last primaries of the party which was held in Port Harcourt. That was when the party’s flag bearer in the person of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, emerged despite Wike”s wishes. Today, all PDP presidential aspirant know that to ignore the Rivers State Governor, or discount his influence in the party, is to court trouble in capital letters. As is, Wike seems to have learnt one or two lessons from his failure to have his way at the last primaries. Hence, it seems, he has gone into alliance with all the governors of the party to form a gangatuan coalition to forestal an Atiku, or anyone without their backing, from becoming the flag bearer of the party in the coming Presidential Primaries of the party.

    How this will impact the ambition of the Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, who is a Wike co-conspirators, since he is also pounding the pavements, consulting party leaders across the country, is yet to be known.

    One needs no clairvoyant powers to guess who the opponents of this gang up and the major targets of the governors are. No doubt, Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki and former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State. They are not only nursing presidential ambitions, but have teamed up with some leaders of the party who the governors are trying to sideline. Knowing Atiku Abubakar and Bukola Saraki as major mobilisers, with their own followers in the party, the die appears cast.

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, is particularly a target for two main reasons. One, he is considered too old, being over 70 years old. Two, for those of the governors, who think the post should be zoned to the South, he is from the wrong side of the geographical divide. What is, however, unstated is that he is not beholden to any of the Governors, and he has enough resources to match them Naira for Naira and Dollar for Dollar. He easily is one of the party leaders who has significant followers but is seen as not being interested in funding of the party.

    But undeterred, the Atiku Abubakar team, headed by Alegho Raymond Dokpesi, himself a great mobiliser, are pounding the streets, literally canvasing support for their aspirant. In trying to woo South Easterners, for example, the Atiku team is telling them to shelve their ambition for now and wait for an Atiku presidency which will run only one term and thereafter hand the mantle to an Igbo son or daughter for that matter.

    The team of former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, is not listening to the Atiku Abubakar wait for me to run first gospel. There is no doubt that Anyim is a serious aspirants who is not just campaigning to be president of South East origin but is building coalitions across the country, in an effort to be accepted and voted as the flag bearer of the party. He seems to enjoy the graces of the Nyesom Wike group even though he is not a Governor. The South East too appear to be standing solidly behind him. Though it is early days yet, no other high calibre aspirant from the South East has emerged in the PDP.

    Also though he has continued to say that his aspiration is not based on zoning the PDP presidential ticket to the South East, it is clear that he would be the major beneficiary should the PDP yield to the cries of the Igbos in the South East and zone the presidential ticket to them. Groups after groups are springing up in his support. He is one aspirant to watch closely as the race gathers momentum.

  • Osun 2022: Do not impose Sen Adeleke on us, group cautions Saraki

    Osun 2022: Do not impose Sen Adeleke on us, group cautions Saraki

    …they’re APC spies – Fmr PDP scribe reacts

    A group, under the aegis of PDP Support Group, has warned former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, not to impose the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2018 governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, on the party again.

    This was contained in a statement signed and made available to newsmen by the Coordinator of the group, Apesin-Abiodun Adegoke, urged the National Secretariat of the party to checkmate Saraki on the purported move, saying the attempt may destroy the party.

    The group alleged that Senator Saraki is riding on the relationship with the elder brother of Adeleke, Dr Deji Adeleke, to achieve the purported move ahead of the primary election of the party.

    It, however, appealed to the Iyorcha Ayu-led National Working Committee to allow the party structure already in place since 2018 to conduct the primary election.

    “The National Secretariat should stop Senator Bukola Saraki and his serialized attempts to subtly impose Senator Ademola Adeleke on the majority of Osun PDP critical stakeholders.

    “Osun PDP wants to put it on record before the NWC that under the extant laws of the party, only the elected State Chairman and Executives that came into being upon their inauguration on March 25, 2018, which tenure is guaranteed and certain for 4 years will expire on March 25, 2022, that has the constitutional powers and legal right/backing to conduct the Ward Congress and 3 Ad-Hoc delegates which they duly conducted on September 25 & 27, 2021.

    “We, therefore, advise that no other faction should be given any recognition unless we want to destroy the party completely and allow the ruling party, the APC, to strive in their failure of governance of the country.

    “No group in Osun should be allowed to host or transport any Ad-Hoc, congress, or primary election, on Committees, the national headquarters of PDP should bring neutral and credible characters that have no affiliation with either of the groups and their names should be in public.

    “Senator Saraki should face the problems of governance in PDP in Kwara and leave us alone in Osun State. He should not use his ambition and personal interest to scuttle the gradual peace process that is ongoing in Osun state”, the statement added.

    The former National Deputy Publicity Secretary, Diran Odeyemi, said the group is just hibernating on the PDP, working for the All Progressives Congress and should be disregarded.

    He said, “the author of the statement is representing a group working for APC and operating in the PDP. Who is he? What is his status in Osun PDP? The group has a client and we know them. No one should blackmail our leaders. People should disregard his claim.”

  • Lawan, Gbajabiamila, Saraki mourn Wayas

    Lawan, Gbajabiamila, Saraki mourn Wayas

    The trio of Ahmad Lawan, Nigeria’s Senate president; Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and former Senate President Bukola Saraki have expressed sadness over the death of Dr Joseph Wayas, a former president of the Nigerian Senate.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Lawan, Gbajabiamila and Saraki expressed sadness over the passing of Wayas in separate statements released on Thursday.

    The President of the Senate, Lawan sent his condolences to the family of Wayas, who died on Thursday. He commiserated with the family of Senator Wayas, the Government and People of Cross River State, friends and political associates of the late elder statesman.

    He described the death of Senator Wayas as a great loss for Nigeria.

    “Senator Joseph Wayas was a great lawmaker and political leader who served his country and people with dedication and integrity.

    “As the Senate President in the Second Republic, Senator Wayas led the upper chamber with competence and passion. He was a great symbol of his political era.

    “Senator Wayas continued to contribute to nation-building, democracy and socio-economic development of Nigeria even after he left public office in 1983.

    “He played a significant role as Deputy Chairman of the 1994-95 National Constitutional Conference and took part in many other national assignments.

    “Nigeria will sorely miss his wealth of experience,” Lawan said

    The Senate President prayed to God to grant Senator Wayas’ gentle soul a sweet repose and to his loved ones the fortitude to bear his loss.

    Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Gbajabiamila expressed sadness over the demise of Wayas, who served as the third President of the Senate from 1979 to 1983.

    Gbajabiamila, while condoling the government and people of Cross River State over the loss of the elder statesman, noted that his contributions to the deepening of democracy in the country can not be overemphasized.

    While praying for the repose of the soul of the elder statesman, the Speaker enjoined the family, friends and the people of Cross River State to take solace in the fact that the ex-President of the Senate, a founding member of the defunct All People’s Party (APP), contributed his part to the political development of Nigeria.

    On his part, Saraki noted that Wayas was President of the Senate while his father, Dr. Olusola Saraki served as Senate Leader between 1979 and 1983.

    He recalled how Wayas used to visit their home when he was much younger, revealing that he consulted with the late Wayas regularly on issues relating to the running of the Senate when he was Senate president.

    “My prayers are with the Wayas family over the passing of Dr. Joseph Wayas, who was the President of the Senate while my father, Dr. Olusola Saraki, served as Senate Leader between 1979 and 1983.

    “I remember when I was younger, whenever Oloye used to visit Dr. Wayas, or Dr. Wayas came to our home on visits, he always had a knack for wanting to ensure that everyone was carried along in the solutions to the problems of the day.

    “During my time as Senate President, knowing fully well how closely he and my father worked, based on his experience, I consulted with him regularly on issues relating to the running of the Senate. He was a guest at a few of our anniversary events in the 8th Senate.

    “This is why, today, as we mourn the passing of this great statesman, experienced legislator, and people-centered politician, I thank Almighty God and his family for sharing him with us. I also commiserate with the people of Cross River State over Dr. Wayas’s demise, and pray for strength for his family, friends, political associates, and supporters,” Saraki stated.

    TNG reports Wayas died in a London hospital on Thursday, aged 80.

  • I have nothing to hide – Saraki tells EFCC

    I have nothing to hide – Saraki tells EFCC

    Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has said he has nothing to hide, and that he was willing to cooperate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Saraki gave the assurance after reports emerged that the former Senate President was arrested by the Commission.

    In a statement, Yusuph Olaniyonu of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office, however, clarified that the former Senate President was not arrested.

    Olaniyonu in the statement stressed that Saraki visited the EFCC on his own volition, adding that the former Senate President was back home.

    The statement reads: “The Media Office of Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki would like to confirm that this afternoon, on his own volition, Dr. Saraki visited the office of the EFCC to clarify any issue that the commission may have wanted to raise with him.

    “It will be recalled that following the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on the Fundamental Human Rights case filed by Dr. Saraki during the period of the former Chairman of the EFCC which precluded the commission from investigating him until the matter is dispensed with, the commission at the last hearing on July 14, 2021, pleaded with the judge that the order was preventing them from doing their job.

    “Following this complaint, Dr. Saraki, as a responsible citizen, on his own volition approached the commission that at the earliest convenient date, he was willing to visit the commission’s office and clarify all issues they might want to raise with him.

    “He, therefore, visited the commission’s office this afternoon and answered some questions. He is back home. He was not arrested.

    “Dr. Saraki also assured the commission that he has nothing to hide and will always make himself available to clear all issues that may require his attention”.

  • Saraki is blocking us from probing him, EFCC tells court

    Saraki is blocking us from probing him, EFCC tells court

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday, told a Federal High Court, Abuja, that the action of the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has been hindering the agency from probing him.

    EFCC Counsel, Chile Okoronkwo, made this known to Justice Anwuli Chikere when the fundamental rights enforcement suits filed by the immediate-past senate president were mentioned in the court.

    The EFCC had, in 2019, said it would probe Saraki’s earnings between 2003 and 2011 when he was governor of Kwara.

    The commission was reported to have seized some of his houses in the Ikoyi area of Lagos then.

    Saraki, on May 10, 2019, filed two separate suits marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/507/19 and FHC/ABJ/CS/508/19 respectively before Justice Taiwo Taiwo to challenge the action of the EFCC.

    Justice Taiwo, who was the presiding judge, ruled on an ex parte application filed along with the substantive suits and ordered the anti-corruption agency (4th respondent) and the other five respondents to the suits to stay action on the probe pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed by the applicant.

    The order was granted after Sunday Onubi, Saraki’s lawyer, moved the application, on May 14, 2019.

    Others in the two suits are the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Inspector-General of Police (IGP), State Security Service (SSS), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th respondents respectively.

    The court had directed the parties to maintain the status quo by suspending the probe.

    “By the provision of Order 4(3) of the Fundamental Rights Civil Procedure Rules, 2009, the court may, if satisfied that the applicant may be caused hardship before the service of an application where liberty or life of the applicant is involved hear the application ex parte upon such interim reliefs as the justice of the application may demand.

    “There is no doubt that in making the interim reliefs or orders, the court is guided even in its exercise of its discretion judicially and judiciously applied by the law and statues.

    “I am of the view, after due consideration of the aforesaid, that this court ought to make the order being sought by the applicant pending the hearing and determination of the originating motion on notice,” Taiwo had ruled.

    But the EFCC later applied that the judge should recuse himself and the matter be transfered to another court.

    Justice Taiwo sent back the case file to the chief judge and the matter was reassigned to Justice Chikere for adjudication.

    When the matter was called on Wednesday, Counsel to the ex-senate president, Sunday Onubi, told the court that the matter was slated for mention.

    However, the EFCC’s Lawyer, Okoronkwo, informed the court that he had an application to make.

    The lawyer briefed the court that on May 14, 2019, a sister court, presided over by Justice Taiwo, made an order “directing all respondents to stay off action in connection with the subject matter of the suit pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

    He said though there was no doubt that the order was made by the court, “it has hindered the 4th respondent from performing its duty for about two years now.”

    Okoronkwo, who stated that Saraki continued to hinge on the order of the court any time he is invited, urged the court to vacate the order.

    Chikere, noting that the court vacation was around the corner, adjourned the matter until Oct. 7 for hearing.

  • Saraki’s Ikoyi property funded from Kwara coffers – Witness insists in court

    Saraki’s Ikoyi property funded from Kwara coffers – Witness insists in court

    An investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Olamide Sadiq, has told Justice Mohammed Liman of a Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, that properties located at 17 and 17A McDonald Road, Ikoyi, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, owned by a former Senate President and ex-governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki, are believed to have been purchased with funds drawn from the coffers of the Kwara State government.

    The EFCC had secured an order of interim forfeiture of the properties which was published in The Nation Newspaper, on October 25, 2019. Subsequently, the anti-graft agency had approached the Court for a final forfeiture of the properties, prompting the Court to fix a date for both parties to call deponents and witnesses.

    Testifying before the Court on November 25, 2020, Sadiq, an operative of the EFCC, who was led-in-evidence by Nnaemeka Omewa, narrated how investigation indicated certain infractions relating to monies withdrawn from the state’s treasury during the administration of Saraki spanning 2003 to 2011.

    He said: “As part of investigation, we wrote to GTB requesting for the bank statement of Dr. Bukola Saraki, and there was need to interrogate Mr. Bayo Abdulrahman Daudu.

    “In the course of interviewing him, I showed him the statement of account along with other documents including offer letters from the Presidential Implementation Committee for Land Property relating to the Ikoyi properties.”

    He further told the Court that findings necessitated the extension of investigation to the accounts belonging to the state, and to interview more persons believed to be in the know of how monies withdrawn from the accounts of the state, were paid into the GTB account of Saraki.

    He said: “There was need to interview Afeez Yusuf, who volunteered statement.

    “I asked him how many accounts the Kwara State Government House operated, which he obliged were domiciled with Zenith Bank and Access Bank [then Intercontinental Bank].”

    Sadiq informed the Court that the banks were contacted to furnish the EFCC with statements of account of the Government House.

    He further revealed that Yusuf, who worked as a cashier at the Government House was making withdrawals from the Access and Zenith bank accounts during the period under investigation.

    According to Sadiq, those interviewed during investigation said that there was a directive from Saraki that the money withdrawn be given to one Abdul Adama, a personal aide of the former governor.

    He said: “We were able to lay our hands on some of the documents, but some had been mutilated; the documents showed several payments of money withdrawn from the state coffers and deposited at various times into the account of Saraki domiciled in GTB.”

    According to Sadiq, “from investigation, these properties in question were purchased with loan obtained from GTB which was paid off with money withdrawn from the state, deposited into Saraki’s GTB account to defray the loan.”

    “The same period the money were withdrawn from the Government House account, they were deposited into the account of Saraki,” he added.

    Earlier in the course of proceedings, Omewa had also called on Yusuf as a witness, who also corroborated his role in withdrawing money from the Government House account based on the instruction of his boss, Isiaka Kareem, then Controller, Finance and Account at the Government House, to be given to persons on a list given to him by Isiaka.

    About N1,160,000,000 withdrawn from the Government Account is alleged by the EFCC to have been diverted over the period of investigation.

    Saraki’s counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, while cross-examining the witnesses, however, argued that in his personal status as an accomplished businessman before becoming governor Saraki was capable of acquiring properties without government money.

    The case has been adjourned till December 16, 2020 for “final written addresses”.