The Code of Conduct Bureau
(CCB) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday gave a
load-down on how Senate President Bukola Saraki allegedly looted Kwara State
during his tenure as governor between 2003 and 2011.
The CCB and EFCC in a joint
response to the claim by Saraki that his ongoing trial by the Code of Conduct
Tribunal (CCT) was a witch-hunt, told of how Saraki allegedly amassed
properties in Lagos, Abuja and London, using Kwara State funds.
The agencies also detailed how
Saraki allegedly siphoned public funds through Guaranty Trust Bank
(GTB) Plc into his personal foreign account, and with which he procured a
property in London.
The joint response by the CCB
and EFCC is contained in the counter-affidavit filed by the prosecution in the
trial of Saraki on charges of false assets declaration.
Saraki had, in a fresh motion
filed by his new lawyer, Kanu Agabi (SAN), queried the competence of the charge
against him and the jurisdiction of the CCT on the case claiming that he
was not accorded fair hearing by the CCB before he was charged with alleged
discrepancies in his asset declaration forms.
He queried the timing, arguing
that most of the offences were allegedly committed about 15 years ago, while he
was governor and that he was not confronted with the discrepancies as required
under the Constitution, to enable him either agree or deny the
discrepancies.
However, prosecution lawyer,
Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), armed with the EFCC/CCB counter-affidavit, urged the court
to dismiss Saraki’s fresh motion on the ground that it constituted an abuse of
court process.
An official of the CCB, Peter
Danladi, stated in the counter-affidavit that the investigation of the various
petitions of corruption, theft, money laundering, among others, against Saraki
in 2010, was conducted jointly by the officials of the EFCC, CCB and the DSS.
“The EFCC conducted its
investigation on the various petitions and made findings which showed that the
defendant/applicant abused his office, while he was the governor of Kwara State
and was involved in various acts of corruption as the governor of the state.
“The defendant/applicant
borrowed huge sums of money running into billions from commercial banks,
particularly Guaranty Trust Bank, and used the proceeds of the loan to acquire
several landed properties in Lagos, Abuja and London, while he was the governor
of Kwara State.
“As against the defendant using
his own legitimate income to defray the loan, he took public funds, running
into billions from Kwara State Governemnt and lodged same in several tranches
and in cash into his GTB account in GRA (Government Reservation Area), Ilorin,
Kwara State.
“The defendant/applicant’s
account officer in GTB confirmed that the defendant/applicant gave him several
cash in the Government House to lodge into the account and on some occasions,
the defendant sent his aides from the Government House to give him the cash for
lodgement into his account.
“When the EFCC submitted its
report to its legal department and the Federal Ministry of Justice, the
Ministry of Justice formed the opinion that the offences revealed from the
investigation, particularly as they relate to the properties acquired by
the defendant/applicant, while he was governor of Kwara State and various
monies sent into his various accounts outside Nigeria can be better
handled through the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Code of Conduct Tribunal
(CCT).
“The office of the Attorney
General of the Federation (AGF) then sent the findings and the evidence gathered
during investigation by the EFCC as a complaint to the Code of Conduct Bureau
for investigation and that the operatives of the EFCC would collaborate with
the officers of the CCB for effective investigation.
“Our investigation on the CCB
Assets Declaration Forms for public officers filed by the defendant/respondent
revealed the following:
“The landed property listed as
No.42 Gerald Road, Ikoyi was visited by Mr. Ikechi Iwuagwu (Deputy Director,
CCB), Miss. Geraldine Longsten (DSS) and Adamu Garba (EFCC) sometime in 2006
and discovered that the property was under construction.
“Contrary to the declaration by
the defendant that he was earning an annual income of N110, 000,000 from No.42
Gerald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, there were no tenants in the property as same was an
empty land as at the time of the declaration.
“Contrary to the declaration by
the defendant that he owned 15A and 15B McDonald, Ikoyi, Lagos as at the time
of the declaration in 2003, our investigation revealed that the said properties
were acquired in 2006 from the Implementation Committee on Federal Government
Landed properties through his companies called Tiny Tee Limited and Vitti Oil
Limited wherein he paid the sum of N396, 150,000 to the Federal Government of
Nigeria.
“The defendant made an
anticipatory declaration for the said 15A and 15B, Ikoyi, Lagos. The defendant
acquired the properties in the name of two companies because he could not buy
two Federal Government properties in his personal name.
“The defendant bided for and
acquired 17, 17A and 17B McDonald, Ikoyi, Lagos from the Implementation
Committee on Federal Government Landed Property and paid an aggregate sum of
N497, 200,000 to the Federal Government between October 2006 and 2007.
“A scrutiny of the
defendant’s salary account with the Intercontinental Bank (now Access
Bank) account No: 0100857813 reveals that his monthly take home salary as
at the time he acquired the property was not more than N500,000 and the
defendant acquired properties far in excess of his income.
“While the Federal Government
was selling its properties, the Central Bank of Nigeria, being an agency of the
Federal Government sold plot 2A, Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos for N325,000,000
between 2007 and 2008 to the defendant, which the defendant purchased through
his company called Carlisle Properties when he was the governor of Kwara
State,” Danladi said.
He added that further
investigation by the CCB revealed that Saraki also acquired a property at Plot
2A Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos through Carlisle Properties Limited, while
he was governor of Kwara state and that he has been receiving rent from the
property.
Danladi said investigation on
the asset declaration forms submitted by Saraki between 2003 and 2011 revealed
that he failed to declare his interest in Plot 2A Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos (
in his 2011 asset declaration form); No: 1 Targus Street, Maitama, Abuja
otherwise known as 2482 Cadastral Zone A06, which he claimed he acquired in
November 1996 from one David Baba Akawu (in his assets declaration form of
2003).
Saraki was also said to have
failed to declare his ownership of No: 3 Targus Street, Maitama, Abuja,
otherwise known as 2481 Cadastral Zone A06, Abuja which he acquired from one
Alhaji Attahiru Adamu in his asset declaration form (of June 3, 2011) and No:
42, Remi Fani-Kayode Street, Ikeja, Lagos, which he acquired through his
company, Skyview Properties Limited, from First Finance Trust Limited on
December 12, 1996.
“The defendant has a
domiciliary account with GTB Plc in Nigeria with account No: 441441953210 from
where he made various cash transfers totalling 3.4million US dollar between
2009 and 2012 to American Express Service Europe Limited with account No:
730580 maintained with the American Express Bank, New York and the various sums
were transferred into the defendant’s card account No: 374588216836009
maintained by the defendant outside Nigeria.
“Sometime in February 2010, the
defendant obtained a loan of N375, 000,000 from GTB Plc in Nigeria, which he
converted into 1,516,194.53 Pounds Sterling and gave instructions to the bank
to transfer the entire sum to the United Kingdom in favour of Forts Bank SA/NV
the purpose of which the defendant stated to be the full and final payment of
mortgage redemption for the property he purchased in London,” Danladi said.
Arguing Saraki’s motion
earlier, Agabi said that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain the
charges on, among other grounds, that the Attorney-General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice lacked the power to file charges before the tribunal.
He also argued that the failure
of the Code of Conduct Bureau to invite Saraki to confront him with the
breaches in his assets declaration form was fatal to the validity of the
charges.
On the contention that his
client was not accorded fair hearing by the CCB, Agabi argued that compliance
with Paragraph 3(d) to the 5th Schedule to the Constitution must be complied
with where issues of breach is raised.
He said that by failing to
first invite his client and confront him with the alleged discrepancies in his
asset declaration, as required under Paragraph 3(d), before charging Saraki
before the CCT, the condition precedent was not complied with, thereby denying
the tribunal the requisite jurisdiction.
Agabi argued that the tribunal
had struck out a case against former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, on the
same ground of non-compliance with the provision of Paragraph 3(d). He urged
the court to be guided by its decision in the Tinubu case and strike out the
charge against his client.
Responding, Jacobs argued that
that submission by Agabi was based on an old provision of the Constitution. He
said the Paragraph 3(d) provision referred to by Agabi existed in the 1979
Constitution, which no longer exists in the 1999 Constitution.
His words: “In the 1999
Constitution, the Paragraph 3(d) was removed so that the CCB and CCT can
function maximally.
“They cannot use old law to
defeat new provisions. In the Tinubu case, the tribunal found that it was misled
into giving the decision it gave. The tribunal cannot commit the same error
again.
“Assets Declaration is an oath.
You go before a High Court to endorse the asset declaration form. It’s like an
oath. The consequence of lying is criminal. It is like the law of perjury.”
Jacobs described Agabi’s
argument as embarrassing and self-serving.
Jacobs, who once served as an
aide to Agabi while he was the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF),
wondered why his former principal would now argue against the power to initiate
proceedings before the CCT.
“On their argument that the AGF
cannot initiate proceedings before this tribunal, we are saying that issue,
which is their No. 2 is embarrassing. They had earlier argued, up to the
Supreme Court, that it is only the AGF that can initiate cases here. They
dragged that case before the Supreme Court and lost. Then they have come back
here to now argue the opposite, that the AGF cannot initiate a case before the
CCT.
“Fortunately for me, I served
with the lead defence lawyer (Agabi) as Special Assistant (SA) when he was the
AGF. He signed several charges, which I prosecuted before this tribunal on his
behalf. Some of these cases included those involving former Minister of the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Jeremiah Useni, former Plateau State
governor, Joshua Dariye, among others.
“He did not only sign those
charges, I represented him. Having benefited and utilised those law, can he now
come back to condemn the law? That is embarrassing. And it should not be
accepted. The same AGF, who worked with that provision of the Constitution,
cannot now argue that the EFCC cannot liaise with the CCB in investigating
cases,” Jacobs insisted.
Jacobs argued that the fresh
motion by Saraki was an abuse of court process because he had raised similar
issues and sought the same reliefs in about four other motions he filed before
different courts in the country.
He cited the cases marked:
FHC/ABJ/CS/775/15, FHC/ABJ/CS/905/15 and FHC/ABJ/CS/1507/15 already filed by
Saraki in attempt to frustrate his trial before the CCT.
CCT Chairman, Danladi Umar,
adjourned to March 24 for ruling and possible commencement of trial.
THE NATION
