Some houses belonging to the Nigeria’s Senate President, Bukola Saraki, have been seized in Lagos by the country’s anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The houses are located at 15a, 15b and 17 MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
According to Sunday Punch, however, the EFCC was said to be unsure of which of the properties actually belong to the Senate President and decided to place inscriptions and stickers on all of them.
While 15a and 15b were declared by Saraki in his asset declaration form, it is believed that some other houses on the street were bought by the Senate President from the Presidential Implementation Committee for the Sales of Government Property through shell companies.
A relative of Saraki, who reportedly preferred anonymity, told punch correspondent that the houses were seized on Friday.
“The EFCC had been making inquiries into the finances and assets of Saraki for quite some time. They came to inscribe ‘EFCC, Under Investigation’ in red on the walls and the fences. The irony is that even houses that don’t belong to Saraki were marked.
“From what we were told, they are keeping him under strict surveillance ahead of May 29, 2019 when they may invite him.” He reportedly said.
The EFCC had, while presenting evidence against Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in 2016, alleged that he owned houses on MacDonald Road but there were discrepancies in the addresses.
The EFCC witness, Michael Wetkas, had said investigation revealed that House No. 15 MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, and Block 15 Flat 1 to 4 on the same street belonged to Saraki.
According to him, the Senate President bought the properties from the Presidential Committee on Sale of Federal Government Landed Properties in Lagos through his companies, adding that the he made a bank draft in the name of TYNITY Company Limited, which was declared in the asset declaration form.
But the witness noted that when the EFCC investigation team wrote to the presidential committee seeking clarification, the committee said from their records, the only property sold to the company was No. 15 Macdonald Street, Ikoyi.
