The
President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, said yesterday that he lost N12
million to burglars in his Ilorin, Kwara State home. News of the robbery was
first revealed by an online news portal saharareporters, which alleged that
N300 million mysteriously disappeared from the Senate President’s bedroom.
The
online news medium claimed the alleged N300 million was provided by the Kwara
State government and was in different foreign currencies. The money was
reportedly meant to serve as Ramadan handout to be distributed by the Senate
President to supporters.
Saraki,
however, denied the details of the robbery, which, he said, was being currently
investigated by the police in Ilorin. The Senate President, in a statement
issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, also rejected the
online narrative that his domestic aides were culpable. He said: “There is,
therefore, no truth in the claim that the money ran into hundreds of millions,
that it was in foreign currency or that the incident happened in Dr. Saraki’s
room. ‘
’The
amount was simply in Naira. Also, the money has nothing to do with Kwara State
government. “For the umpteenth time, we need to reiterate the fact that the
fixation that any money spent by Saraki or that is in his possession is from
Kwara State government is unfounded, unwarranted, lacks any basis and
irresponsible.
‘’We
wonder whether Saraki was such a poor man before 2003 when he was elected
governor that he could no longer own any money without it being attributed to
the state government. “We call on all members of the public to ignore all the
claims in the story.
Dr.
Saraki will allow the police to do their work and unravel the person or persons
behind this theft in the Administrative Office,” he stated. Kwara State
government also denied the report that Saraki demanded the N300 million from it
and that it provided the money that was stolen from the Ilorin residence of the
Senate President who was also a two-term governor of the state and the
political leader of the mainstream All Progressives Congress, APC in the state.
The
state government in its official Facebook page, claimed ignorance of the source
of the money, saying it was inconceivable for the state which is currently
facing serious economic challenges to have afforded such. The statement, which
was repeatedly posted yesterday, read thus:
We
didn’t give Dr. Saraki money for Ramadan “It has come to our attention that
Sahara Reporters has published a story claiming that the Senate President, Dr.
Bukola Saraki, demanded and received N300m from Kwara State Governor, Dr.
Abdulfatah Ahmed, for the Ramadan.
Tags
Politics