Friday 13 September 2013

Saraki: Why EFCC Is On My Trail



Former Kwara State governor and
chieftain of the Abubakar Kawu Baraje –
led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr.
Bukola Saraki yesterday attributed his
ordeal in the hands of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the fall-out of internal wrangling in the
party. The former governor, who currently
represents Kwara Central in the upper
chamber of the National Assembly, said
he would not be surprised if he was
invited again by the commission to
answer to alleged financial misappropriation. Information Nigeria reports that Saraki
was a guest of the anti-graft agency on
Monday and Tuesday, where he was
quizzed over the N17billion bond
obtained by his administration in 2010. Speaking with newsmen in Ilorin on
Thursday, Saraki explained that he had
given sufficient information to the
investigators at EFCC on all issues
pertaining to the said bond. He also addressed PDP youths in the
state that thronged his constituency
office to pledge their loyalty and support
to him. Saraki commended the EFCC operatives
for being “professional” in the discharge
of their duties just as he explained that
the N17bn loan was spent on projects
including Aviation College, irrigation
project, Ilorin water reticulation, township stadium, rural electrification,
KWASU, loan refunding and Kwara mall. Saraki said, “Yes I was with EFCC on
Monday and Tuesday to answer queries
on the bond issue. I made it clear that
bond is not money available to any
government just like that; that to access
it you must go through a rigorous process; that we had to submit ourselves
to international evaluation before we
could be given. “I gave them details of how we spent the
bond because if any government wants
to be reckless it won’t be with a bond
that has stringent conditions before you
can access it. I listed the projects we
used the money for and they are all verifiable.”

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