Toyin Saraki Arrives At EFCC Unprepared, Leaves Shocked At How Much They Know

It was learnt from sources within the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that Toyin Saraki, the wife to Senate President Bukola Saraki, arrived at the EFCC “totally unprepared” for the questions interrogators were asking.

Senator Saraki and his wife have been the subject of intense pressure over documents which reveal they have been stealing and laundering money from Kwara State and various financial institutions for decades. These documents also reveal that Mrs. Saraki has played a significant role in assisting to launder these funds.

Mrs. Saraki was accompanied by an entourage of politicians and supporters as she arrived at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja. Included in her entourage was founder of the Anti-Corruption Network, now Senator, Dino Melaye who has been criticized in recent weeks for flaunting his wealth on social media.

SaharaReporters reported earlier today that Mrs. Saraki arrived two hours late for her appointment. According to a senior agent at the EFCC Mrs. Saraki tried to intimidate the EFCC officials with melodrama and members of her entourage.

The EFCC successfully separated Mrs. Saraki from members of her entourage in order to effectively interrogate her in private, according to an investigator. This same EFCC investigator said that separating her was important because she was no longer able to distract officials.

He also told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Saraki was “thoroughly overwhelmed” by the knowledge of the investigators’ of her criminal acts linked to the laundering of stolen Kwara State funds and misappropriation of bank loans.

The EFCC investigator added that Mrs. Saraki “left shocked after seven hours of interrogation.”

She is due to return to the EFCC for further questioning on today at 10am.

Saharareports

Kwara State PDP: We are Behind Toyin Saraki's EFCC Probe

The Peoples Democratic Party has debunked claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress and one of its national leaders, Bola Tinubu, were behind the ongoing investigation of the wife of the President of the Senate, Toyin Saraki, for corruption.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC had invited Mrs. Saraki, who was the first lady of Kwara between 2003 and 2011, in relation to alleged questionable inflow of funds into companies in which she has interest.

However, shortly after that news of her invitation became public, a group of senators loyal to Senate President Bukola Saraki, under the aegis of ‘Like Minds,’ questioned the investigation, expressing concerns that the probe might be politically-motivated and suggesting that the leadership of the APC might be hounding Mrs. Saraki as a way of getting at her husband.

Saraki has been locked in battle with the leadership of the ruling party over his emergence as senate president on June 9 contrary to the wishes of the party.

Joseph Waku, a chieftain of the APC, had also on Saturday accused Tinubu of masterminding a “baseless petition” that led to the invitation of Mrs. Saraki by the EFCC, a charge the former Lagos governor stoutly denied.

But in a statement Sunday, the Kwara state chapter of the PDP said it was a petition it (PDP) submitted to the EFCC that got Mrs. Saraki into trouble.

Why EFCC invited Saraki's wife for questioning

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has invited Toyin Saraki, the wife of Senate President, Bukola Saraki, for questioning over alleged shady contracts during her husband’s tenure as the governor of Kwara State.

Also, the daughter of the late former President Umaru Yar’Adua, who is also the wife of an ex-Governor of Kebbi State, Mrs. Zaina Dakingari, was said to have been invited by the anti-graft agency.
Saraki’s wife is billed to appear before EFCC interrogators on July 28, a day after Yar’Adua’s daughter would have been questioned.

Mrs Dakingari, The PUNCH learnt on Wednesday, would answer questions on the alleged misappropriation of N2bn state funds.Toyin Saraki was said to be under probe in relation to several contracts executed by companies said to be linked to her while her husband held sway as the Kwara governor.A source at the EFCC, who confided in our correspondent in Abuja, said,
“The commission has invited the wives of two former state governors, Mrs. Toyin Saraki and Mrs. Zaiba Dakingari.“Mrs. Dakingari was supposed to have appeared before the commission on Wednesday (yesterday) but she sent a message that she was outside the country and would honour the invitation on July 27, 2015.
“She is to provide an explanation in relation to N2bn state funds.
“The commission is expecting Saraki on July 28, 2015. The exact amount of money involved in her matter is not stated for now but she is to be quizzed in relation to various contracts executed in Kwara State when her husband was governor of the state.”
The EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed to our correspondent that the commission had sent out invitations to some wives of former governors though he said he did not know their identities.
Meanwhile, the EFCC operators on Wednesday grilled ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s Senior Special Assistant on Schools and Agricultural Programmes, Baraka Sani.
Sani was reportedly interrogated by operatives of the commission at its headquarters for eight hours before she was allowed to go.
The former President’s aide, The PUNCH learnt, was said to have been directed to report again at the commission in the early hours of Thursday (today) to answer further questions from her interrogators.
The PUNCH had reported exclusively on Tuesday that the EFCC had concluded plans to embark on a probe of officials of the Jonathan administration.
The former public officers said to be the target of the EFCC are former ministers, special advisers, senior special assistants, heads of parastatals and agencies in the previous administration.
Sani was the first aide of the former President to be quizzed by the EFCC.

PUNCH