Nigeria: N11Billion loan scam: Saraki pleads with police for a Monday date

Detectives in Lagos said yesterday that when Mr. Saraki reports tomorrow, they hope he will explain how he secured loans to purchase choice properties in the up-scale markets of Ikoyi and Victoria Island in Lagos, that ended up being the collaterals of the same properties.

Former governor of Kwara State and serving senator, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, failed to keep faith with a police invitation Friday at the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigerian Police regarding a N11 billion Intercontinental Bank loan scandal that has trailed him for years.

Detectives at the Milverton Road headquarters of the SFU say they received a letter from Mr. Saraki pleading for extension of time till Monday before showing up, making the excuse that he needed to attend the burial ceremony of a close relation.

“We have no problems with that and we look forward to receiving him here on Monday” remarked a top SFU officer who told Premium Times that the office released a statement late yesterday to counter the claims from Mr. Saraki’s media operations that he was “surprised at the reopened investigation” of his case because he had already gone through series of investigations.

 “...We are once again surprise it is resurfacing,” his media office said, adding, “
The attempt to link this baseless petition to Senator Saraki is purely a blackmail and character assassination.”

SFU detectives yesterday waved off this argument telling Premium Times that Mr. Saraki still has important questions to answer on how his over N11 Billion loans ended up in the accounts of subsidiaries of the oil marketing company, Joy Petroleum, which was owned by one of his former aides, Mattew Obahor. now deceased.

SFU detectives said in Lagos yesterday that when Mr. Saraki reports tomorrow, they hope he will help them understand two issues relating to the loam: first, how choice properties in the up-scale markets of Ikoyi and Victoria Island in Lagos that were purchase with the same loan ended up being the collaterals of the same properties.

Secondly, they hope he will explain how the loans, unpaid, were substantially written off and the properties relieved of their collateral status.

The current governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatai Ahmed, according to police detectives, may also be invited for questioning because, according to them, a lot of the money transfer was done under his watch as finance commissioner in the administration of Mr. Saraki.