SHOCKING: EFCC furnishes Buhari with letter of indictment of Saraki, aides for allegedly laundering over N3.5 billion in N19 billion Paris Club loan refund fraud

But a lawyer, respondent of The DEFENDER, who spoke on phone from Akure, Ondo State capital, wondered what Saraki’s spokesman Yusuf Olaniyonu meant by his reported dismissal of the EFCC’s letter to the President as Magu’s way of fighting back after he was denied confirmation by the Senate when “we can vividly see that the letter was subjected days before the anti-corruption czar was rejected by the Senate.  What all these games mean is that, Saraki is leading a group of corrupt Senators against the Federal Government’s effort to help Nigerians kill corruption before corruption kills them.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has furnished President Muhammadu Buhari with details of how the President of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki, and his aides allegedly laundered up to N3.5 billion from the Paris Club loan refund, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

The report, compiled by detectives in the anti-graft agency, followed months of investigation, and was submitted to the president on March 10, 2017, days before the senate rejected his nomination a second time, insiders at the presidency told this medium.

In the report, the EFCC narrated how Mr. Saraki, using his deputy chief of staff and other aides, laundered N3.5 billion that he allegedly received from the Paris Club loan refund to state governors.

The manner the Paris Club loan refund was spent by public officials has been a subject of nationwide controversy for several weeks, with EFCC hinting at some point that an investigation was underway.

But the governors pushed back against the allegations, describing the EFCC’s probe of the fund as “unwarranted attack on the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, its officials and associated entities.”

But in its report to the president, the EFCC detailed how Mr. Saraki, in 2016, introduced Gbenga Makanjuola, a former lawmaker who now serves as his deputy chief of staff, to Kathleen Erhimu, an Access Bank staff.

The EFCC identified Ms. Erhimu as Mr. Saraki’s relationship manager at Access Bank.

Mr. Makanjuola would later work with Robert Mbonu, a former managing director of Heritage Bank, whose firm, Melrose General Services Limited, was said to have served as consultant to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.

In its March 10 correspondence, our sources said, the EFCC informed President Buhari that Mr. Mbonu received N3.5 billion in mid-December 2016, part of which was later transferred to accounts and persons linked to the senate president.

“A prima facie case of conspiracy to retain the proceeds of unlawful activities and money laundering contrary to Sections 15(3) and 18(9) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2004 can be established against the aforementioned suspects,” the EFCC told Mr. Buhari in the report.

“Additionally, investigation into their personal accounts is ongoing.”

The report could further complicate things for Mr. Saraki, who is already standing trial on separate charges of false declaration of assets since 2015.

Yusuf Olaniyonu, a spokesperson for Mr. Saraki, in his response said the allegations were false and were Mr. Magu’s way of fighting back after he was denied confirmation by the Senate. But the report was forwarded to the President on March 10, while the Senate rejected Mr. Magu’s nomination on March 15. Olaniyonu, a former Commissioner for Information in Ogun State, said the EFCC had earlier dissociated itself from a recent media report on the matter.

But a lawyer, respondent of The DEFENDER, who spoke on phone from Akure, Ondo State capital, wondered what Saraki’s spokesman Yusuf Olaniyonu meant by his reported dismissal of the EFCC’s letter to the President as Magu’s way of fighting back after he was denied confirmation by the Senate when “we can vividly see that the letter was subjected days before the anti-corruption czar was rejected by the Senate.  What all these games mean is that, Saraki is leading a group of corrupt Senators against the Federal Government’s effort to help Nigerians kill corruption before corruption kills them.

“The EFCC’s dissociation of self from recent media report concerning this matter was correct but cannot be used by Olaniyonu as escape route because, EFCC did not officially release the report at that time to the media.  So, Buhari must waste no time in taking appropriate action ensuring the prompt arrest the culprits indicted in the letter and take them on for prosecution.  What is the problem exactly with these Senators? You are fighting Hameed Ali.  We later found out that you actually have a case of fraud with Ali’s Customs.  Now you want Magu gone whereas you know that Magu had already caught you red handed in an alleged financial crime.  Is that why you must shut down the Buhari’s government in 72 hours?  If Buhari’s Federal Government does not act fast against these guys, they will wreck havoc on this country and the innocent people of the country.  Now they are the ones playing politics with our national budget and Nigerians are watching,” he said.