Support your suit seeking forfeiture of Saraki’s houses with more evidence, judge tells EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been asked to make available more evidence to support its suit praying for the

permanent forfeiture of two houses belonging to a former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court in Lagos made the demand from the anti-graft agency.

The EFCC is claiming that the two houses of the former Senate President located in the Ikoyi area of Lagos, were acquired with funds he diverted from the coffers of Kwara State when he was the governor of the state.

According to the anti-graft agency, between 2003 and 2011, Saraki “withdrew over N12bn cash from the account of the Kwara State Government and paid same into his accounts domiciled in Access and Zenith banks through one of his personal assistants, Abdul Adama, at different intervals.”

Read also: Court orders Atiku, Saraki to pay woman N5m for using her photograph on campaign billboards

It added that Saraki while serving as Kwara governor got a bank loan of N1.6 billion to buy the houses and later repaid the loan with money diverted from the state treasury.

In his ruling on the matter on Monday, the presiding judge said though the EFCC had made a strong showing of strange transactions through Saraki’s bank account statement exhibited in court, there was still need for the commission to call witnesses to prove that the funds were proceeds of fraud.

Justice Liman, in his ruling earlier, dismissed Saraki’s preliminary objection that the fresh suit was an abuse of court processes on the grounds that it contained the same facts on which he was prosecuted before the Code of Conduct Tribunal and was discharged and acquitted up to the Supreme Court.

The matter was later adjourned to September 29 when the EFCC is expected to bring more evidence to prove why the houses must be forfeited permanently to the Federal Government.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now