Some houses belonging to Senate President Bukola Saraki,
Three houses located at 15a, 15b and 17 MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos were placed with inscriptions and stickers indicating its under seizure
Although, the EFCC was said to be unsure if all the properties actually belong to Saraki, however houses 15a and 15b were declared by Saraki in his asset declaration form and 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.
One of saraki’s relative who pleaded anonymous told the Punch that the houses were seized on Friday.
He said, “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.”
In 2016,while presenting evidence against Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, EFCC had
alleged that he owned houses on MacDonald Road but there were discrepancies in the addresses.
Investigation revealed by EFCC witness, Michael Wetkas, states that House No.15 MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, and Block 15 Flat 1 to 4 on the same street belonged to Saraki.
According to Wetkas, the Senate President bought the properties from the Presidential Committee on Sale of Federal Government Landed Properties in Lagos through his companies.
He also noted that the defendant made a bank draft in the name of TYNITY Company Limited, which he declared in the asset declaration form.
However 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.
75 percent, which amounted to N123.7m was paid for House No. 15 MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, through a bank draft from the account of one of Saraki’s company called Skyview Properties Limited in Access Bank.
Wetkas also said investigation revealed that Saraki made a bank draft through his company TYNITY and paid for House No. 17 MacDonald Road in Ikoyi, Lagos, in the sum of N256.3m.
Micheal Wetkas was reported to have said, “My lord, there was a draft of N12.8m and another draft of N20m from Zenith Bank as well as a draft of N4m from GTBank as part of payment for the purchase of House No. 17 MacDonald.