Senate President Bukola Saraki has denied allegations by a news website that he received a bribe from former president Goodluck Jonathan to help him influence the Senate’s probe about the $20 billion believed to be missing from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) account.
Saraki accused the news medium of smear campaign and acting the script of his sponsors. He demanded a retraction of the story and an apology for the publication.
According to a statement by his Special Assistant, New Media, Bankole Omisore, Saraki said since he defected to the All Progressives (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) he had never had any contact with Jonathan.
He also said it was on record that he was the only member of the Senate Committee on Finance, which probed the allegation, who refused to sign the report on the grounds that he was not convinced about the report.
“The attention of the Senate President’s media office has been drawn to a malicious fabrication by an online publication aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
“First, as a senator in the seventh National Assembly, the Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki never signed the report of the Ahmed Makarfi-led Finance Committee investigation into the alleged non-remittance by NNPC of $20 billion into the federation account.
“In his letter dated June 30, 2014 to the committee withholding his signature, he said ‘it is my opinion that this report as laid has not fully addressed the matter referred to us adequately and conclusively. The report has not been definitive on its findings and has failed to address some of the critical issues I had raised during our meetings. For this reason, I am withholding my support and signature.’
“The records of the committee are still accessible in the National Assembly and a copy is here attached. Secondly, it is still on record that Senator Saraki is the only senator in the committee that refused to sign the report even in the face of severe duress and personal inconvenience. Saraki during the investigation, was known to have been very probing with his questions, meticulously reviewing the data offered by NNPC to get to the bottom of the issue.
“It would be recalled that though he did not make the last meeting of the committee, when the news broke that the committee had cleared the NNPC, he was the first and the only senator to refute the report, saying ‘the recent media reports claiming that the Senate Committee on Finance has cleared NNPC of any unaccounted revenue fund are not true… I have been very active in the investigation, nothing significant has changed to suggest clearing of anyone,” the statement said.
He also decried allegations that he worked with with Jonathan to bring down the amount of unremitted funds, that Jonathan sent gifts of money and other items to him through the Chagoury family. But he added that the Chagourys have been friends with his family for 26 years.
“Also, Saraki never met with Jonathan on this report (committee met last on the 16th of February 2014). So, the thought of Saraki working to bring down the number or amount unremitted with Goodluck Jonathan is completely false.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there has been no meeting of any type between Senator Saraki and former President Jonathan since the senator left PDP. So, any suggestion that ex-President Jonathan sent Chagoury to Saraki with gifts/money to seek support from him on the report is totally false. Both the Sarakis and Chagourys have been family friends for over 26 years.
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