Former Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Bukola Saraki having the last laugh
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- Saraki’s Senate and Buhari did not have cordial relationship
- Saraki’s Senate rejected Magu then over damning security report
- The 8th Senate under Saraki has thoroughly been vindicated
A Federal High Court in the Lagos Division on Thursday reversed its order forfeiting to the Federal Government two houses belonging to a former governor of Kwara State and Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki. The houses are situate in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
Justice Rilwan Aikawa, released the houses back to Saraki in a judgment on an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking to permanently forfeit the houses to the Federal Government. The EFCC had in December last year secured a court order for the interim forfeiture of the houses – Plots No. 10 and No. 11 Abdulkadir Road, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State – after telling the court that they were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities allegedly perpetrated by Saraki while he was Kwara State Governor between 2003 and 2011.
But attempts by the EFCC to convert the temporary forfeiture order to a permanent forfeiture order was vehemently resisted by Saraki, leading eventually to the discharge of the temporary forfeiture order by Justice Aikawa. The judge said he found no sufficient basis in the EFCC application and he could not, what he described as his way around it to grant the permanent forfeiture order as requested by the EFCC.
The EFCC whose former acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu was recently disgraced out of office for an alleged corruption charges and detained for ten days had told the court how it received and investigated a damning intelligence report, showing monumental fraud perpetrated in the treasury of the Kwara State Government between 2003 and 2011, when Saraki was the governor of the state.
Saraki had, through his lawyer, Kehinde Ogunwumiju SAN, described the EFCC suit as an abuse of court process and an attempt to scandalise him. He argued that it was a ploy by the EFCC to review the July 6, 2018 decision of the Supreme Court discharging the applicant from culpability arising from the same money and houses, which are the subject matter of this action.
