- Executive/Legislature warfare increases
The President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar bukola Saraki, has protested the report in which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was said to have indicted him in the alleged diversion of N92 billion from the N522 billion Paris club refund to the State Governments. National Daily reports that the Senate President raised alarm that Ibrahim Magu, embattled EFCC Acting Chairman, is blaming him for the rejection his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate.
National Daily is of the view that this is one of the manifestations of the deepening warfare between the executive and the legislature.
Yusuph Olaniyonu, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Senate President, in a statement, complained that Magu leaked the report to some journalists where he made several allegations against Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, as it concerns the payment of the Paris Club Fund refund to the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).
Olaniyonu remarked that these allegations are not new. “The EFCC had from the onset of its investigation into the Paris Club refund made attempts to drag in the name of Dr. Saraki and we have promptly denied any such involvement of the Senate President. In fact, the EFCC itself came out to deny the report as it then said it had nothing to indict the Senate President,” he said.
“It is obvious that at this point when Magu believes the Senate President should be blamed for his failure to secure confirmation as Chairman of EFCC by the Senate, he would want to fight back by cooking up reports and masterminding its leakage. We maintain our stand that Dr. Saraki has no direct or indirect link to the distribution of the NGF money. No money from the Paris Club refund was paid to Dr. Saraki,” Olaniyonu declared.
The Media team narrated that it gathered that EFCC is of the belief that since the Senate President has worked in the same organisation with Mr. Robert Mbonu before, whatever transaction he is involved in should be linked to the Senate President in this era of mud-slinging and much-raking. “We would like to say that Mbonu is not representing Saraki in any transaction he does with the NGF and no money from his company, Melrose, in his dealing with Nigeria Governors Forum came to Saraki either directly or indirectly. And if the EFCC has any information to the contrary, we challenge them to make it public,” he declared.
The Media Office subsequently declared inter alia: “We state categorically that no aide of the Senate President acted on Saraki’s behalf in whatever they do with Mbonu.
“Again, If Melrose paid any money to a jeweller or any shop, that has nothing to do with the Senate President. We believe Melrose must have the necessary documentation in support of their transaction and we are sure the EFCC is aware of all these.
“In the same vein, if Melrose chose to invest in another company, that decision has nothing to do with the Senate President and the act of drawing a link between Mbonu and Saraki can at best be only pure mischief.”
Olaniyonu noted that Xtract Energy Services Limited is a well-known foreign exchange dealer with almost 15 years of existence in the market and the company is widely known to do business with many organisations in the country. He acknowledged that the last time the Senate President patronised the company was on December 19, 2014. “We challenge Mr. Magu and the EFCC to prove that the Senate President transacted any form of business with the foreign exchange dealer in the period of the payment of the Paris Club refund,” he said.
“We call on members of the public to view this concocted and leaked report as Magu’s form of fighting back. The report has no truth in it. It should be noted that the Senate President was not behind Magu’s failure to get confirmation from the Senate. That was democracy in action. Saraki is merely a presiding officer and first among equals. Saraki did not in any way interfere with the confirmation process,” he summed up.
The EFCC, had submitted a report to President Muhammadu Buhari in which the Commission was said to have linked Saraki, and some of his aides with the diversion of about N19 billion from the N522 billion Paris Club refund.
Also fingered in the report is Robert Mbonu of Melrose General Services Limited. He is a former Managing Director of Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, the commercial bank owned by the Saraki family which was later liquidated.
It will be recalled that the Federal Government had, in December 2016, approved N522.74 billion to be paid to the 36 states of the federation as part of the reimbursement of the over-deduction on the Paris Club loan from 1995 to 2002.
The EFCC had sometimes in January discovered that the loan refunds were illegally routed through the account of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).