The fresh moves by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe Senate President Bukola Saraki took a new twist last week as the agency seized some houses belonging to him in Lagos.
Herald Nigeria gathered that the houses, which are located at 15a, 15b and 17 MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, are said to belong to Saraki, even though only two of these properties are legally recognised as his own.
There are indications that the other marked houses on the street were bought by the Senate President from the Presidential Implementation Committee for the Sales of Government Property through shell companies.
One of Saraki’s relative, who confided in The Punch, said, “The EFCC had been making inquiries into the finances and assets of Saraki for quite some time. They came to inscribe ‘EFCC, Under Investigation’ in red on the walls and the fences. The irony is that even houses that don’t belong to Saraki were marked.
“From what we were told, they are keeping him under strict surveillance ahead of May 29, 2019 when they may invite him.”
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The EFCC had, while presenting evidence against Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in 2016, accused the former Kwara governor of owning houses on MacDonald Road but there were discrepancies in the addresses.
According to the agency’s witness, Michael Wetkas, the Senate President bought the properties from the Presidential Committee on Sale of Federal Government Landed Properties in Lagos through his companies.
Recall that the EFCC had last week announced a probe into the activities of the Senate President dating back to 2003 when he became the governor of Kwara State.
To this effect, the commission had written a letter to the Kwara State Government House, asking for the details of all of Saraki’s earnings including salaries, allowances and estacode during his eight years as governor.
Meanwhile, Saraki’s case is said to be a tricky one because apart from owning a Nigerian passport, he also holds a British passport, which means he can travel out of the country easily.
A relation of the Senate President added, “The EFCC is building its case from the CCT trial which Saraki won in 2017. Even though he doesn’t have immunity now, they don’t want to detain him because of his position. They are waiting for his tenure to end before pouncing on him.
“They know that when he is no longer a senator, his colleagues in the upper chamber will not be able to come to his defence and accompany him to the EFCC or to the court.”
But reacting to the development, Saraki, who spoke through his media aide, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, lamented that he had never seen a place where someone, who had been declared innocent over a particular issue by the highest court in a country, would still be persecuted over the same issue.
He said, “If you look and check at the addresses of the properties they have marked, they are the same properties that formed the basis of his arraignment before the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the case dragged on to the Supreme Court.
“So, if the highest court in the land had adjudicated and made a pronouncement on an issue, can it be reopened?