A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, Thursday, reversed its order seizing the two government houses in Ilorin belonging to former Senate President, Bukola Saraki over graft charges.
The presiding judge, Justice Rilwan Aikawa, released the houses to Saraki, dismissing the application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to permanently forfeit the houses to the Federal Government.
It can be recalled that last December, the EFCC secured a court order for the interim forfeiture of the houses sited at Abdulkadir Road, Ilorin, Kwara State.
They argued that the properties were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities allegedly perpetrated by Saraki while he was Kwara State governor between 2003 and 2011.
However, by the EFCC to convert the temporary forfeiture order to a permanent forfeiture order was severely resisted by Saraki, upon until the discharge of the suit.
Justice Aikawa ruled that he found no sufficient basis in the EFCC application and he could not “find my way through” to grant the permanent forfeiture order.
The EFCC claimed that it obtained “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.
According to official of the EFCC, Olamide Sadiq, “Whilst investigation was ongoing, several fraudulent transactions were discovered. I know for a fact and verily believe that our investigation has revealed the following mind-boggling findings, among others:
“That between 2003 and 2011, Dr Olubukola Abubakar Saraki was the Executive Governor of Kwara State.
“That whilst he held the aforementioned position, the common pattern was that after payment of monthly allocation by the Federal Government to the Kwara State Government, a cumulative sum of not less than N100m will be deposited into the Kwara Government House account.”
Saraki described the EFCC suit as an abuse of court processes and an attempt to scandalise him.
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