The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Itse Sagay, has reacted to the probe of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Sagay explained that the anti-graft agency was investigating Saraki for alleged acquisition of properties by fraudulent means and not false declaration of assets, which he had been cleared by the courts.
EFCC had last week sealed off some properties belonging to Saraki located in Ikoyi, Lagos State while investigations the period he was governor of Kwara State from 2003 to 2011.
The Senate President, however, described the action of the anti-graft agency as a witch-hunt, claiming that the property in question had been investigated by the commission several times in the past.
However, Sagay, while speaking with Independent said: “The investigation is not over. The earlier one was the issue of false declaration of assets. What they are doing now is acquiring properties by fraudulent means and siphoning money from the state.
“So, it is a totally different charge. Although, he was cleared up to the Supreme Court on the issue of declaration of false assets, this one is different.
“That the court declared that a case is not proved does not mean that there is no guilt. So, this is a second approach, which permits the agency to actually have the property forfeited without proving guilt.
“All he has to do is to go through the first process of temporary forfeiture and then, the owner of the property (in this case, Saraki) will be invited by the court through an order to come and justify how he acquired the property, usually by affidavit.
“So, the two parties will come and if he cannot establish satisfactorily to the court that he earned the money by which he acquired the property, then he will lose it to the Federal Government.”
