The embattled former member of the Senate, Shehu Sani, has denied reports that he confessed to extorting $25,000 from a car dealer, Alhaji Sani Dauda, the owner of ASD Motors, after being confronted with tapes of telephone conversations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Sani, who represented Kaduna South Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly, dismissed the reports as untrue, alleging that the tapes, which he described as “cut and join,” was concocted evidence against him.
The report had claimed that Sani was confronted with 13 tapes of his telephone conversations with the ASD Motors boss, and allegedly pleaded that his admission of the crime, after listening to three of the tapes, should be kept away from the media.
The EFCC had arrested Sani in Abuja on December 31, 2019, for allegedly using the name of the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu, to extort sums of money from some members of the public.
Among other cases, Sani was said to have demanded $25,000 from Dauda, who gave him $10,000 and later complained to the EFCC.
Dauda had also, in his petition to the EFCC, claimed that the former senator demanded N4m from him to give to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, and four other judges to influence some pending cases in court.
The former lawmaker had denied the allegations, while the CJN had since denied links with Sani.
Operatives of the EFCC had searched two houses and an office of the embattled senator in Abuja and the commission had since detained him.
The Senior Special Assistant to SSA to Sani, Mr Sulaiman Ahmed, in a statement sent to our correspondent in Abuja on Saturday, said the purported tapes were part of the plans to implicate the former lawmaker.
The statement read, “Our attention has been drawn to a news item that has been trending in the newspapers and social media, alleging that Senator Shehu Sani has begged after listening to some audios presented to him at the EFCC, that his matter with Alhaji Sani Dauda (ASD), should not further be taken to the media. Our first thought was to discountenance it because of the political dimension the issue is taking, which the public is much aware of. However, such a blatant lie, if left uncleared, could assume a life of its own.
“The statement is false, malicious and aimed at further denigrating the hard-earned image of Senator Shehu Sani. We wish to state without any contradiction that the phone call between Senator Shehu Sani and ASD does not signify any bribery issue. The selected cut and join conversations cannot stand as evidence in any court of competent jurisdiction. It is nothing but a desperate attempt to concoct evidence to sustain the ongoing media trial against Senator Shehu Sani.
“It should be noted that Senator Shehu Sani has been having various phone conservations on the conflicting issues with ASD. More so, ASD has already pleaded with Senator Shehu Sani on his mistake of allowing his son to write and for him to have signed the petition to EFCC.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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