Bilikisu Buhari, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has told the Federal High Court in Lagos how former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki allegedly diverted N10 billion from the state’s coffers.
She also told the court how Saraki used part of the proceeds to build the two houses temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government.
She told the court on Thursday that the money was allegedly diverted in tranches of N100 million between 2003 and 2011 when he was governor of Kwara State.
The EFCC insisted that the two Ilorin houses of Saraki, must be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria because they were built with funds stolen from the coffers of Kwara State Government.
The anti-graft agency insisted that it had evidence that Saraki allegedly diverted not less than N10 billion belonging to the state.
The court had on December 2, 2019 granted an order temporarily forfeiting the two houses – Plots No. 10 and No. 11 Abdulkadir Road, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State – to the Federal Government.
Now EFCC is urging the court to make the interim forfeiture order permanent, a move that Saraki, through his lawyer, Mr Kehinde Ogunwunmiju (SAN), has vehemently opposed.
In an affidavit filed before the court, Bilikisu Buhari, said the anti-graft agency found that while Saraki was Kwara State governor, he allegedly diverted N100 million on a monthly basis from the federal allocation to the state.
She alleged that the N100 million was usually diverted from the Kwara State Government’s account to the account of the Kwara State Government’s House.
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