CCT trial: Saraki had 14 cars worth N263.4m before becoming gov 2003 — Witness

ABUJA — The Federal Government, yesterday, told the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, sitting in Abuja that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, owned 14 exotic cars worth N263.4 million, prior to his emergence as the governor of Kwara State in 2003.

It said the cars were among several movable assets Saraki declared in the form he filled and submitted before the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, on September 16, 2003. The government made the disclosure on a day Saraki alleged that the asset declaration form he submitted to the bureau the same year was doctored. He told the tribunal that Federal Government, in a bid to prosecute him by all means, inserted a building he purchased in 2008 into the asset declaration form he filled and submitted in 2003. At the resumed hearing on the 16-count criminal charge pending against Saraki before the tribunal, the star witness, Mr. Michael Wetkas, said the defendant equally owned landed property worth over N3 billion. 

Wetkas, who is a detective at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was the leader of a three-man team that investigated six separate petitions lodged against Saraki in 2014. He said: “I admit that on April 5, I testified before the tribunal where I disclosed that the former EFCC chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, constituted a special team to conduct investigation into petitions against the defendant. “At a point we were asked to work with officials of the CCB. My lord, there is no how you will investigate economic and financial crimes that assets will not be involved. “In the course of this particular assignment, when CCB volunteered to join in the analysis of the assets that were traced to the defendant, they also brought their copy of the form for us to compare if it was one and the same form the defendant filled upon his assumption of office. “I know that the original of exhibit-1, which is the assets declaration form the defendant filled, should be with the CCB. I have never seen the original, we only worked with the copy given to us by the bureau.” However, under further cross-examination by the defence lawyer, Mr. Paul Erokoro, SAN, the witness made a u-turn, saying he actually saw the original of the assets declaration form Saraki submitted to the CCB. He said Saraki signed his first assets declaration form on September 16, 2003. When he was asked when the form was examined, the witness said the stamp had no date on it. He said: “In the course of our investigation, when we came across 15a and 15b, McDonald Ikoyi, Lagos, we wrote to the Presidential Committee on sale of Federal Government Landed Property. We also wrote to Lagos State Land Registry and they said they don’t have records of 15a & b McDonald. “The Presidential Implementation Committee stated that the record it has in its system is 15 McDonald which was sold to a company named TinyTee Ltd and Plot 15, Block 1-4 which was sold to another company, Bitti Oil Ltd. “Our position is that the property bought by TinyTee Ltd belonged to the defendant which we did not see in all the six assets declaration forms that were filled and submitted by the defendant from the time he assumed office in 2003 and the end of his tenure as governor in 2011, as well as his declaration in 2015 as a Senator. “Whereas the defendant declared that he bought No 15a & b McDonald Ikoyi, Lagos, sometime in 2000 through his company, Carlisle Properties Ltd, our investigation, however, revealed that he bought the said property in 2006 through his company, TinyTee Ltd and not Carlisle Properties Ltd.” My assets declaration form was tampered with — Saraki At that juncture, Saraki’s lawyer, Erokoro, SAN, alleged that 15a & b, McDonald Road, Ikoyi was inserted in the assets declaration form his client submitted in 2003. He said there was no way Saraki would have in 2003, made anticipatory declaration of an asset that was put up for sale by the Federal Government in 2006, which the defendant subsequently acquired in 2008. The allegation sparked off a heated exchange between the defence team and the prosecution, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN. In order to douse the tension, the tribunal chairman, Justice Danladi Umar, directed both parties to reserve their arguments till the written address stage. Meantime, the tribunal adjourned further hearing on the matter till today.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/cct-trial-saraki-14-cars-worth-n263-4m-becoming-gov-2003-witness/

 Wetkas, who is a detective at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was the leader of a three-man team that investigated six separate petitions lodged against Saraki in 2014. He said: “I admit that on April 5, I testified before the tribunal where I disclosed that the former EFCC chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, constituted a special team to conduct investigation into petitions against the defendant. “At a point we were asked to work with officials of the CCB. My lord, there is no how you will investigate economic and financial crimes that assets will not be involved. “In the course of this particular assignment, when CCB volunteered to join in the analysis of the assets that were traced to the defendant, they also brought their copy of the form for us to compare if it was one and the same form the defendant filled upon his assumption of office. “I know that the original of exhibit-1, which is the assets declaration form the defendant filled, should be with the CCB. I have never seen the original, we only worked with the copy given to us by the bureau.” However, under further cross-examination by the defence lawyer, Mr. Paul Erokoro, SAN, the witness made a u-turn, saying he actually saw the original of the assets declaration form Saraki submitted to the CCB. He said Saraki signed his first assets declaration form on September 16, 2003. When he was asked when the form was examined, the witness said the stamp had no date on it. He said: “In the course of our investigation, when we came across 15a and 15b, McDonald Ikoyi, Lagos, we wrote to the Presidential Committee on sale of Federal Government Landed Property. We also wrote to Lagos State Land Registry and they said they don’t have records of 15a & b McDonald. “The Presidential Implementation Committee stated that the record it has in its system is 15 McDonald which was sold to a company named TinyTee Ltd and Plot 15, Block 1-4 which was sold to another company, Bitti Oil Ltd. “Our position is that the property bought by TinyTee Ltd belonged to the defendant which we did not see in all the six assets declaration forms that were filled and submitted by the defendant from the time he assumed office in 2003 and the end of his tenure as governor in 2011, as well as his declaration in 2015 as a Senator. “Whereas the defendant declared that he bought No 15a & b McDonald Ikoyi, Lagos, sometime in 2000 through his company, Carlisle Properties Ltd, our investigation, however, revealed that he bought the said property in 2006 through his company, TinyTee Ltd and not Carlisle Properties Ltd.” My assets declaration form was tampered with — Saraki At that juncture, Saraki’s lawyer, Erokoro, SAN, alleged that 15a & b, McDonald Road, Ikoyi was inserted in the assets declaration form his client submitted in 2003. He said there was no way Saraki would have in 2003, made anticipatory declaration of an asset that was put up for sale by the Federal Government in 2006, which the defendant subsequently acquired in 2008. The allegation sparked off a heated exchange between the defence team and the prosecution, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN. In order to douse the tension, the tribunal chairman, Justice Danladi Umar, directed both parties to reserve their arguments till the written address stage. Meantime, the tribunal adjourned further hearing on the matter till today.