Saraki Forfeits Two Houses in Ilorin to FG

• Saraki Forfeits Two Houses in Ilorin to FG

A Federal High Court in Lagos has granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) its prayer to partially forfeit two houses in Ilorin linked to the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

The EFCC had convinced the court it uncovered huge fraud perpetrated in the state treasury between 2003 and 2011 when Bukola Saraki was the governor of the state.

Justice Rilwan Aikawa ordered temporary forfeiture of Saraki’s two properties at Plots No. 10 and No. 11 Abdulkadir Road, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State in line with an ex parte application filed by the EFCC pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No. 14, 2006.

Olamide Sadiq, an operative of the EFCC, said, in an affidavit filed in support of the ex parte application, the move was after findings of the commission and “the report of a committee set up to review sales of Kwara State Government during the reign of the Governor of Kwara State in the year 2003 and 2011.”

He said the EFCC also received “a damning intelligence report, showing monumental fraud perpetrated in the treasury of the Kwara State Government between 2003 and 2011.”

Sadiq added that “Whilst the 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.

“That upon the payment of the said N100m, same will, in turn, be withdrawn in cash by one Mr Afeez Yusuf from the Kwara State Government House, Ilorin’s account in bits and brought to the Government House.”