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Bukola Saraki, president of the Senate, has tough battles ahead of him as he has to defend himself n court over allegations of inappropriate assets declaration, while his business associate is on the run over alleged fraudulent deals and his wife is also being investigated by an anti-graft agency
| By Olu Ojewale | Sep 28, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT |
Bukola Saraki, president of the Senate, is in the eye of the storm. The Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, sitting in Abuja, on Friday, September 18, ordered Solomon Arase, inspector general of Police, and other relevant security agencies in the country to get Saraki arrested.
Justice Danladi Umar, chairman of the CCT, in a ruling on Friday afternoon, issued a bench warrant against the Senate president following his refusal to appear in court to face a 13-count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the federal ministry of Justice.
Muslim Hassan, a deputy director in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, had asked the tribunal to order Saraki’s arrest for failing to show up for arraignment on Friday morning. Hassan told the tribunal that, “he cannot sit in the comfort of his chamber and object to his trial in absentia.”
Saraki had through Joseph Daudu, SAN, his counsel, appealed to the tribunal to consider his position as the Senate president and stay the execution of the arrest warrant, saying he would be available for trial on Monday.
His plea was refused by Justice Umar who maintained that the accused person, having sworn to protect the constitution, ought to have shown respect to the tribunal by appearing before the court.
Perhaps, the Senate president thought that his team of lawyers would be able to convince Umar with a copy of the ruling of Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, September 17, on the exparte application sought by Saraki. Instead of granting the order, the high court judge had summoned Hassan, who signed the charge against Saraki, Justice Umar, chairman of the CCT and Sam Saba, chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, to appear before it on Monday, September 21, to show cause why the trial should be allowed to proceed.
In any case, at the tribunal, Hassan argued that Justice Mohammed lacked the powers to summon the CCT and CCB chairmen to appear before him in Saraki’s desperate bid to scuttle his trial. Saraki had tried to prevent his trial by the CCT for alleged false declaration of assets by running to the Federal High Court to obtain an exparte order preventing the tribunal from sitting.
The court did not grant the order, instead, ordered Saraki to put the CCB, which proffered the 13-count charge against him on notice to appear before it on September 21, 2015, to show cause why it should not be restrained from arraigning the embattled Senate president over the said charge.
The Senate president is being accused of false and improper declaration of assets allegedly acquired during his tenure as the governor of Kwara State from 2003 to 2011.
Saraki, who approached the court via an exparte motion, wants the federal ministry of Justice, the CCB and the tribunal as well as Hassan stopped from taking any further step to arraign or prefer any charge against him, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit he filed before the court.
In the motion exparte argued by Mahmud Magaji, SAN, a counsel to Saraki, he argued that based on the provision of Section 24 of the CCB and the tribunal’s Act, his prosecution before the tribunal should be initiated by the attorney general of the federation, AGF, or any officer directed by the AGF.
Further, he said that “in the absence of any subsisting AGF in the time being, this court has the jurisdiction to direct parties to maintain status quo pending the hearing of the motion on notice.”
The Senate president was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, September 18, before the tribunal to face the charges preferred against him.
According to the 13-count charge preferred against Saraki dated September 11, 2015, he was alleged to have falsely declared his assets, contrary to constitutionally requirement.
He was accused of deliberately manipulating the assets declaration form that he filed prior to his assumption of office as the Senate president by making anticipatory declaration of assets.
The offence was said to have been committed while Saraki was governor of Kwara State.
Saraki, who has been in the Senate since 2011 after serving as governor for two terms, was equally accused of failing to declare some assets he acquired while in office as governor.
Besides, he is expected to explain before the CCT how he acquired some assets which the federal government believes was beyond his legitimate earnings.
Other charges against him include an allegation that he owned and operated foreign bank accounts while being a public officer. This was classified as a gross violation of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
Besides, Saraki was similarly accused of breaching Section 2 of the CCB and Tribunal Act, an offence punishable under section 23(2) of the Act and paragraph 9 of the said Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The Federal Government alleged that Saraki claimed that he owned and acquired No 15A and 15B McDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, through his company, Carlisle Properties Limited in 2000, when the said property was actually sold by the Implementation Committee of the federal government landed properties in 2006 to Tiny Tee Limited and Vitti Oil Limited, his companies, for the aggregate sum of N396,150,000, 00.
He was alleged to have made false declarations on or about June 3, 2011, by refusing to declare Plot 2A, Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, which he acquired between 2007 and 2008 through his company from the Central Bank of Nigeria for a total sum of N325,000,000, 00.
Also, Saraki was said to have refused to declare No 1, Tagnus Street, Maitama, Abuja, which he claimed to have acquired in November 1996 from one David Baba Akawu.
Some of his alleged offence while in office as governor, which are said to be punishable under Section 15(1) and (2) of the CCB and Tribunal Act, Cap C15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, were allegedly committed between October 2006 and May 2007.
As if that is not bad enough for the Senate president, on Thursday September 17, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, declared wanted Kennedy Izuagbe, managing director of Saraki’s property company, for alleged N3.6 billion money laundering.
Izuagbe, managing director of Carlisle Properties and Investment Limited, a firm said to be owned by Saraki, was alleged to have conspired with others to launder the said amount while he was the managing director of the defunct Societe Generale Bank. The defunct Societe Generale Bank was commonly known as belonging to the Saraki family.
Wilson Uwujaren, head of media and publicity of the EFCC, said in a statement on Thursday that Izuagbe was declared wanted because he could not be reached by the anti-graft agency.
Uwujaren said that Izuagbe, a native of Iviukhua village, near Agenebode, in the Etsako Local Government Area of Edo State had fled the country.
He said: “Izuagbe, 45, who is being investigated in a case of conspiracy and money laundering to the tune of over N3.6 billion, has gone into hiding and all efforts to reach him have proved abortive. He is linked to the several shady deals and gross financial misconducts that took place in the bank, in which several millions of Naira were granted as loan without due diligence.”
He, therefore, urged the members of the public with information on the whereabouts of the wanted banker to contact the EFCC offices in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Gombe and Kano or the nearest police station.
Understandably, a lot of people have now started to read meaning to what is happening to Saraki as political witch-hunt for daring to go against the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, which he belongs. Saraki had got elected to the position of Senate president in alliance with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, against the wish of the party hierarchy. Since then, the relationship between him and the party leaders has been at best tepid.
On July 28, Toyin Saraki, his wife, was quizzed by the EFCC operatives for about six hours over alleged corruption. Toyin was interrogated over alleged shady contracts during her husband’s tenure as governor of Kwara between 2003 and 2011. The investigation was said to be in relation to alleged contracts executed by companies linked to her while her husband was governor.
The former first lady in a statement issued by Well Being Foundation, her NGO after her interrogation, pledged to support and corporate with the EFCC in ensuring credible investigation into the allegation. The statement said Saraki had surrendered herself to the EFCC in line with her believe in transparency and accountability.
In the time being, colleagues of Senate president at the upper chamber regard what is happening to him as molestation and politically motivated. Some of them have thus vowed to support him.
For instance, Sabi Aliyu Abdullahi, an APC senator from Niger North, told journalists that all the allegations raised against Saraki by the CCB were politically motivated but would not in any-way derail the eighth Senate from its focus on bringing about change in the positive sense to Nigerians across the various sectors.
He said: “I want to believe an allegation remains an allegation… However, let’s take a closer look at what the allegations are, dating back to 2003 to date, I think, as far as I am concerned there is something fishy about it. It is very obvious of course, we know what has happened since the inauguration of the eighth Senate.” Abdullahi said the whole Senate would stand by its leadership irrespective of what may happen.
Similarly, Hussain Salihu, APC senator, Nasarawa South, who said the trial of Saraki should have been done long ago and not now he is the Senate president, said those behind Saraki’s ordeals would get tired of the trials because the Senate would not abandon him.
In his own view, Rafiu Ibrahim, a senator, alleged that the battle against Saraki was being co-ordinated by forces outside government to distract the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
“It is being expected and we are even expecting more because of the continued attempt by some people to continue to destabilise the eighth Senate for the reason that they believe they have the prerogative to choose the leadership of the Senate from outside the Senate. But Nigerians are watching. They know that we have continued to do our work. We are in support of all the programmes and policies of President Muhammadu Buhari; we have nothing against the government,” Ibrahim said.
However, Andy Andrew, a businessman, asked Saraki to step down in view of the weighty allegations against. “Looking at all the allegations against him including the ones before the EFCC, I am yet to see any answer by Saraki. He should just step down, life will be better for him. Just ask Ibori what lessons he has learnt and he will tell you that he wished he never entered into politics in view of what has befallen him.”
Patrick Okpomu, a commentator, fingered the APC as being the one heating the polity. Okpomu cautioned them about the sensitivity of the National Assembly to the democratic process bearing in mind the change that Buhari government stands for. “Buhari’s economic transformation agenda, war on corruption, fight against insurgency and so on, need the cooperation of the National Assembly. There should be harmonious relationship between both arms of government. With the battle of wits going on, I foresee a clash of both arms of government in the coming years of this administration where Nigerians would be the loser for the change they are yearning for,” he said.
Be that as it may, Nigerians want Saraki to do the needful and come clean by providing answers to all the allegations levelled against him.
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