A prosecution witness in the ongoing false asset declaration trial of the Senate president, Bukola Saraki told the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Wednesday that Saraki received salary and pension four years after leaving office as governor of Kwara State on May 29, 2011.
Saraki is facing a 13-count charge of false asset declaration and other financial misappropriation at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
Testifying against the Senate president in the ongoing trial, the witness, Michael Wetkast, said the EFCC demanded details of Saraki’s salary account during investigations and discovered that he received regular salaries after the expiration of his tenure on May 29, 2011.
“His salary for June was N291,412:75k, while that of July, August and September were N572,286:32k, N744,000 and N743,942 respectively. Saraki also received the sums of N1,165,488 between the months of October and February 2012,” Wetkast told the Tribunal at the resumed hearing of the case in Abuja.
Wetkast said that since that time, the Senate president received his salaries and pensions regularly till 31, August 2015, before the payments stopped.
Wetkast who had earlier tendered statements from the various bank accounts said to have been maintained by Saraki, also told the tribunal that the statements were contained in a letter dated February 10, 2010.
He stated that the letters were a response to the request made by the EFCC while investigating the allegations against Saraki, adding that the EFCC made a request for Saraki’s personal naira account statement with number: 0034967455.
Wetkast said further that the response to that request included details of the three accounts maintained by the accused in Nigerian currency, United States dollars and British pound sterling.
The prosecution witness said the response to the request for details of Saraki ‘s naira account came with the old account number: 441441953/1/1/0 of the said account just as the pound sterling account with the number: 441441953/3/1/0 and the United States dollar account with the number 0034967479 were provided by Guarantee Trust Bank.
He added that an attached copy of the Certificate of Identification and Statement of Account was also included in the response of the GTB, in pursuant of Section 84 of the Evidence Act, 2011.
The responses provided by the GTB were admitted in evidence as Exhibit 9.
Explaining the various cash inflow and outflow relating to the accounts,
Wetkast said at various intervals, deposits were made into Saraki’s account after loans of various amounts had been taken by Saraki, adding that on March 23rd 2010, cash lodgment of N10 million was made by Saraki, while other sums of N240 million and N200 million were disbursed to the account as loans for the purchase of properties by an implementation committee under the Kwara State government.
He said on October 16, 2006, another disbursement of N280 million was said to have been made, along with a bank draft in favour of the said “implementation committee”.
These followed various other sums including the sum of N380 million, N180, 675, 000, among others, which were collected as loans from the GTB for the purchase of landed properties, said the witness.
The prosecution witness also explained that various amounts of money were sometimes deposited into Saraki’s account in one day, adding that on April 7, 2007, N11 million, was paid into the account with N20 million also paid in three tranches and an additional N6 million, making N77 million.
The witness said further that on November 22, 2007 cash lodgements were made into Saraki’s account in 50 different transactions, revealing that on October 26, 2009, cash deposits were made by several individuals – numbering 87 cash deposits in all – into one of Saraki’s account.
“On 18th May 2009, $20,000 was deposited into one of Saraki’s account separately, while additional $8, 000 and $4,000 were deposited separately by different individuals,” said Wetkast, adding that on May 19, 2009, $10, 000 was lodged into Saraki’s account in 18 different transactions, with the last three transactions made by Saraki himself.
The funds were mostly used for the purchase of properties, particularly in Lagos and Maitama area of Abuja.
Wetkast said the EFCC received four different petitions from Kwara Freedom Network with appeals to investigate the management of the monthly revenue account (within 2003-2011) of the 16 local government areas in Kwara State.
Another petition was also received from Concerned Pensioners of Nigeria, Kwara State Branch.
According to him, the investigations by the EFCC, and the details of the petitions showed the locations of some of the properties, one of which is located at 12A MacDonald Road Ikoyi, and purchased in March, 2000 in the name of Allied Property Ltd and valued at the cost of N160 million.
The witness said the house was leased out at N7 million per annum and another property was also bought by the Senate president at Number 17A MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, at the cost of N226.3 million.
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