Nigeria’s former Senate
President, Bukola Saraki says he is innocent and that he is not engaging in
media war with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
A statement issued by Saraki’s
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu said the attention of
the Media Office of Saraki, had been drawn to the claims contained in the Press
Statement issued on Sunday by the EFCC and that Saraki had not engaged in any
media war.
“Rather, Dr. Saraki has been the
one at the receiving end of the media onslaught sponsored from the office of
the EFCC. Various documents and court processes from the agency have been given
to a particular newspaper for publication. In fact, while the EFCC distributed
copies of its letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court immediately
it was submitted, we are still surprised how Dr. Saraki’s response written
early May found its way into a newspaper last Sunday.
“It should be known that if we
were interested in leaking the letter, we would not wait for seven weeks to do
that. Dr. Saraki believes he is on firm ground on the points of law and has
nothing to be afraid of. He is innocent of the charges.
“We need to reiterate that Dr.
Saraki is not interested in obstructing any investigation by the EFCC or any
security agency. While the EFCC claims that it is investigating the Office of
the Senate President between 2015 and 2019, we make bold to say that it is just
on a wild goose chase. That Office has nothing to do with contract awards and
handling of the finances of the National Assembly. These are functions of the
bureaucracy of the National Assembly, otherwise known as the National Assembly
Management,” he said.
On its persistent probe of the
tenure of Saraki as Governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011, Olaniyonu
maintained that all the issues the EFCC were presently raising were the same
issues that were contained in four of the charges filed before the Code of
Conduct Tribunal (CCT) and taken before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme
Court.
He said the CCT case went beyond
the subject matter of asset declaration and raised issues about the assets, how
and when they were acquired, the sources of their funding and the banking
transactions of Saraki.
“That is why we maintain that
since the issues have been determined by the courts up to the Supreme Court,
the EFCC is just on a persecution and smear campaigns with its current
investigations. At the time the CCT charges were filed, it was generally
believed some of the charges should not have been lumped up with the asset
declaration issues.
“However, in their desperation to
nail Dr. Saraki, some of the charges that contained insinuations that Kwara
State funds were paid into accounts owned by him and companies in which he has
interests were filed. And twice, the charges went before the highest court in
the land and he was discharged and acquitted,” he added.
According to him, Saraki believed
that the current investigation constituted an infringement on his fundamental
human rights and that in the exercise of his belief in the judiciary, he filed
a case seeking the court’s intervention for the protection and enforcement of
the rights.
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