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Saraki finally speaks on his seized houses
Bukola Saraki
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki has lamented what he described as a fight against his political stance as an opposition, as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission seized some of his houses in Lagos.
It was gathered that Saraki who spoke through his media aide, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, explained 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?”
However, the EFCC was said to be unsure of which of the properties that actually belong to the Senate President and decided to place inscriptions and stickers on all of them.
While 15a and 15b were declared by Saraki in his asset declaration form, it is believed that some other houses on the street were bought by the Senate President from the Presidential Implementation Committee for the Sales of Government Property through shell companies.
A close source to the embattled Senate President 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.”
The EFCC had, while presenting evidence against Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in 2016, alleged that he owned houses on MacDonald Road but there were discrepancies in the addresses.
The EFCC witness, Michael Wetkas, had said investigation revealed that House No. 15 MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, and Block 15 Flat 1 to 4 on the same street belonged to Saraki.
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