Court reverses order forfeiting Saraki’s houses to FG

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday reversed its order forfeiting to the Federal Government two houses in Ilorin belonging to a former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

The court, in a judgment by Justice Rilwan Aikawa, released the houses to Saraki, while delivering judgment on an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission 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 resisted by Saraki, leading eventually to the discharge of the temporary forfeiture order on Thursday by Justice Aikawa.

The judge said he found no sufficient basis in the EFCC application and he could not “find my way through” to grant the permanent forfeiture order.

In its application, the EFCC 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.

An operative of the EFCC, Olamide Sadiq, said, “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 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.”

But Saraki had, through his lawyer, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), described the EFCC suit as an abuse of court processes and an attempt to scandalise him.

(PUNCH)