Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki on Sunday returned to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) office in Abuja in connection with the ongoing investigation by the agency into how a N17 billion bond was spent during his tenure as Kwara state governor.
Saraki was also grilled on alleged fraudulent diversion of N9 billion by his successor as governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, SaharaReporters reports.
Ahmed who was finance commissioner during Saraki’s tenure as a governor, had earlier been interrogated by the EFCC.
The development comes less than 24 hours after the former Senate President was interrogated and detained at the EFCC office, shortly after he attended a wedding reception in Abuja.
Saraki spent the whole of yesterday (Sunday) at the EFCC office answering to several allegations of fraud amounting to N26 billion. He begged to return in three weeks to gather all documents related to their questions,” a top source revealed on Monday.
As Senate President between 2015 and 2019, Saraki spent a considerable time facing allegations of corruption and false declaration of assets. He was acquitted by the Supreme Court in June 2018.
However, in his new case with the EFCC, the former Kwara governor is to answer questions over alleged theft and laundering of public funds using a network of cronies and proxy companies.
The suspected proxies, who executed purported contracts for Kwara state under Saraki, allegedly made returns, for many years, to the former governor, forming an organised network of dirty money flow.
The funds involved were huge, running into hundreds of millions in naira and hundreds of thousands in foreign currencies at various times, sources said.
EFCC investigators have obtained a list of the proxy companies involved and analysed a pattern of suspicious transactions between them and Saraki.
One of them has been reportedly responsible for funding Saraki’s lifestyle, including paying over N100 million to settle the bills for rent and renovation of Saraki’s Maitama residence.