Having survived a humiliating and tendentious prosecution by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) where he was subsequently cleared by the tribunal and the Supreme Court, the decision by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to initiate a fresh investigation, which seeks to probe all salaries, allowances, estacodes, and payments Dr. Bukola Saraki received as governor of Kwara State from 2003 to 2011 is a most unconscionable act of political victimization run amok, that should be condemned by all Nigerians who believed in the rule of law.
The anti-graft agency, which has now removed all pretense that it is now an attack dog for the Buhari administration claimed in the letter dated April 26, that it was investigating an alleged case of conspiracy, abuse of office, misappropriation of public funds, theft, and money laundering involving the outgoing Senate President. The probe coming eight years after Saraki left office as governor was sent to the Kwara State government, through the Permanent Secretary, Government House, Ilorin, and titled, “Investigation Activities: Dr. Bukola Saraki.”
According to the letter signed by its zonal head, Isyaku Sharu, EFCC stated: “In view of the above, you are kindly requested to furnish us with the full details of all his entitlements to include but not limited to emoluments, allowances, estacodes, other fringe benefits and severance package while he held sway as the Executive Governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011. This request is made pursuant to Section 38 (1) & (2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 and Section 21 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.”
The move comes a few days after the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) announced the appointment of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, as its Ambassador-at-Large; and this fueled speculation that this was a mere smear campaign by the APC government to rubbish the outgoing senate president in the eyes of the international community. This is more so as he is the only former governor being singled out for such a probe among those that held office as governor in that period.
To think Saraki is the only one who has been singled out for this kind of investigation, this, obviously, is a needless persecution by the EFCC. It defies logic that the EFCC wants to look at legitimate earnings like salaries, including condescending to the level of probing estacodes and other emoluments.
It is worth-recalling that the Supreme Court in June 2018 cleared Saraki of all allegations of false asset declaration, after the federal government filed 18 counts of false and anticipatory asset declaration charges against him in 2015. Although all the charges collapsed at the Code of Conduct Tribunal in 2017, the government appealed the ruling, culminating in a judgement by the Supreme Court.
But the Court of Appeal had earlier upheld all but three of the charges and returned them to the tribunal for retrial. Saraki’s legal team contested the verdict of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal at the Supreme Court, insisting he had no case to answer. In its verdict, the Supreme Court said the Court of Appeal panel engaged in “forensic somersault” when it held that Saraki should answer three of the charges.
But while all the allegations of false asset declaration had been cleared by the Supreme Court, the EFCC has persisted in its persecution and witch-hunt. The EFCC said Monday that the current probe on Saraki was not in connection to his recent appointment as IHRC ambassador at large. “For the avoidance of doubt, the investigation into the Senate President’s activities while he held sway as the governor of Kwara State started long before his nomination and emergence as IHRC ambassador,” EFCC said in a statement. Some Nigerian media outfits had last week reported that the EFCC launched a fresh probe to Saraki, who was former Kwara State governor, days after his appointment.
However, the EFCC said the reports were false as the probe on Saraki’s earnings while he was governor from 2003 to 2011 predate his appointment. “In fact, the Commission’s letter to the Kwara State Government House which sought an inquest into Saraki’s earnings as the state governor, from 2003 to 2011 was dated Friday, April 26, 2019, predating his announcement as IHRC ambassador at large which came on Sunday, April 28, 2019, with two clear days,” EFCC said.
The anti-graft agency urged the public to disregard the false connection the writer sought to establish between Saraki’s IHRC ambassadorial appointment and inquiries into his earnings as a state governor.
EFCC added that it will not be distracted from any quarters in its efforts to rid the country of corruption and corrupt elements.
