Police Declares Senator Saraki Wanted Over N21b fraud

Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Force has declared former governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki, wanted over a N21 billion bank loan fraud at the defunct Intercontinental Bank of Nigeria. The police order was issued shortly after Justice Gladys Olotu, presiding at the Federal High Court 4 in Abuja, denied the former governor (now a serving senator), a plea to restrain the police from interrogating or arresting him.Confirming the story, SFU spokesperson, Ngozi Isitume, said an arrest warrant is in place for the immediate arrest of the senator, who went into hiding after a Federal High Court in Abuja cleared the way for his arrest on Thursday. We received a green light that there is no injunction restraining us.”

Justice Olotu had in her judgement sided with the reasoning of the police counsel, Femi Falana, that regardless of Mr. Saraki’s rights to liberty, the police have the power to arrest, investigate and prosecute him upon reasonable suspicion that he committed a criminal offence. She also said in the circumstances of this case Mr. Saraki is not entitled to seek an interim injunction against the police.

Represented by three Senior Advocates of Nigeria, who were led by Saka Isiaku and Lawal Rabana, Mr. Saraki had prayed that Justice Olotu restrain the Special Anti-fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police from questioning him over his involvement in the N21 billion million loan scam perpetrated at the now defunct Intercontinental Bank.

In a press statement, Mr. Saraki had repeatedly claimed he had no hand in the said scam and that he had no relationship with the company, Joy Petroleum, used to move the money in contention. The police, however, insist that their records point strongly in the direction of Mr. Saraki and that, in any case, they would like to hear his own side of the story.
The police say they are puzzled by findings in the course of their investigation, particularly by revelations from the accounts of Joy Petroleum, from which they found that credit transfers were made at a time the sole operator of the account, Mr. Obahor, a former aide of Mr. Saraki, was long deceased.

While Mr. Saraki constantly harped on the fact that he had no relationship with Joy Petroleum, the police have asked how come the head office of the company on No. 30, Saka Tinubu Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, belongs to Mr. Saraki? The police also questioned the fact that he had used his office as the governor of Kwara State to influence the purchase of the stock of the company by the Kwara State Ministry of Finance. Above all, the police said Mr. Saraki had been an open promoter of Joy Petroleum Ltd. and on several occasions used his personal properties to guarantee loans taken by the company.

The police also said it wants the former governor to assist it clarify why the names in the documentations of the bank included his wife, Toyin Saraki, and his former Commissioner for Finance and current Governor of Kwara State, Abdufattah Ahmed.