Senate President Bukola Saraki has described the seizure of his houses by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as mischievous and aimed at settling scores.
Saraki in a statement by Yusuph Olaniyonu, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said this in reaction to the seizure of his house by the anti-graft agency.
The EFCC had placed a seized order on some of Saraki’s houses located at 15a, 15b and 17 MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The houses seized are mostly properties declared in his asset declaration forms.
However, the Senate President stated that action by the EFCC is a repeat of the previous attempt by the commission, which he was declared innocent by the court.
“Our attention has been drawn to the fact that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has marked certain property belonging to Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, obviously under the claim that they are subject of investigation,” the statement reads.
It continues: “The action of the EFCC only reinforced our earlier stated position that their current investigation is mischievous, contrary to the tenets of the rule of law and only aimed at settling scores. This position is founded on the fact that these same buildings were the subject of earlier investigations by the EFCC as well as the case initiated by the Federal Government at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
“Also, the case went all the way to the highest court in our country, the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In that case, Saraki was discharged and acquitted because the courts believe the government has no case.”
Saraki had earlier labelled EFCC as witch-hunting him after the agency had said it would be investigating all the emoluments received by Saraki while he was the Governor of Kwara State between 2003 to 2011.
