Abuja high court clears Kwara's Senator Saraki of any wrongdoing in bank loan case

FORMER Kwara State governor Senator Bukola Saraki has been cleared of any wrongdoing in a bank loan being investigated by the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) since 2012 by an Abuja high court.

 

Senator Saraki, who is one of the leading contenders for the job of senate president when the new National Assembly is inaugurated, was cleared based on the legal opinion by the attorney general of the federation and justice minister that the allegations of wrongdoing against him were baseless and unfounded. This legal opinion was in response to a report submitted by the Inspector General of Police about police findings in a complaint by Joy Petroleum.

 

Delivering judgment in the case, Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed stopped the inspector general from inviting or arresting the former governor over the alleged bank loan. He also barred the agents of the police, especially the operatives in the SFU from harassing, intimidating and breaching the fundamental rights of the former governor and his aides.

 

In addition, the court held that any attempt to commence any further interrogation of Senator Saraki over an issue already declared closed by the justice minister would amount to a breach of his fundamental rights. Justice Mohammed said that it would be unfair for Senator Saraki to be subjected to further interrogation by police having been cleared of any wrongdoing by the attorney general in the report police submitted to the minister for legal advice.

 

According to the judge, the court had no choice than to give effect to the legal opinion of the justice minister that the complaints against Senator Saraki were baseless, unfounded and not supported with any shred of documentary evidence since he has no link with Joy Petroleum, the complainant. In addition, the court also held that the police ought to have stopped any further harassment of the senator since the attorney general had officially written to the inspector general of police.

 

Justice Mohammed refused to rely on the depositions of police that they were acting on further evidence, adding that the failure by police to attach even a single document to support the bogus claim was fatal to their depositions. With this clearance, Senator Saraki will now be able to pursue his bid for senate president aggressively.

 

He held: “In law, the court cannot rely on any averment that is not supported with even faint documentary evidence. The failure of police to produce in court the provisional findings submitted to the minister of justice and the letter of the minister to the police indicates that the case was not favourable to the police.”