The police say they are fed up with the senator's antics, and have therefore prepared to take him in with "maximum force"

The police in Lagos, Saturday evening, declared Bukola Saraki, the former governor of Kwara state wanted in connection with a N21 billion loan scam.
To legalize the action, the police sought and secured a court order to arrest him on Friday.

This brings to sharp contrast Mr Saraki's prank last Tuesday when he lied that he had a court order restraining the police from investigating and arresting him.

Detectives from the special fraud unit of the Nigerian police, on Friday, told Premium Times they were running out of patience with the lawmaker and  considering use of "maximum force" to bring in Mr Saraki for questioning over the loan scam.

They said Mr Saraki appeared to be abusing his position to elude police invitation.

Over the past two weeks, the former governor, now a senator, has consistently played hide and seek with the police, evading invitation to answer questions in the investigation of the loan scam in which police say he is a key actor in - a crime the police say was committed during his time as governor of Kwara state.

Police believes Mr. Saraki illicitly obtained the loan from the defunctIntercontinental bank plc through a proxy company, Joy Petroleum, owned by his late aide, Matthew Obahor.

"SFU may not hesitate to apply maximum force to bring him (Mr Saraki) in for questioning," Joy Isinume, the special force's spokesperson told Premium Times.
Saraki, through his counsels Saka Isiaku and Lawal Rabana, had filed a suit seeking to restrain the police from arresting him but Justice Gladys Olotu ruled against him, siding with the reasoning of the police counsel, Femi Falana, that regardless of Mr Saraki's rights to liberty, the police has the power to arrest, investigate, and prosecute him upon reasonable suspicion that he has committed a criminal offense.

In press statements, Mr Saraki had repeatedly claimed he had no hand in the said scam and that he had no relationship with the company, Joy Petroleum, used to move the money in contention.

Mr Saraki also argues that he has been over-investigated in the case.

The police, however, insist that records point in the direction of Mr Saraki as a key character in the scam.

The police say they are after Mr Saraki to solve the puzzles in the case, particularly, for the revelations from Joy Petroleum's account which has credit transfers made at time the sole operator of the account, Mr Obahor, a former aide of Mr. Saraki was long deceased.

The police also seeks to understand how a debt of N9.7 billion was dramatically written off the same account that in turn was closed by one Abdul Adamu, who they found out to be an aide of Mr Saraki.

While Mr. Saraki consistently claims he holds no relationship with Joy Petroleum, the police say one of the puzzles he will resolve when in their custody is how the head office of the company on No. 30 Saka Tinubu street, Victoria Island, Lagos belongs to Mr Saraki.

Among other puzzles the police say Mr Saraki will be grilled for is why the names in the bank documentations for the loan included his wife's, Toyin Saraki, and his former commissioner of Finance and current governor of Kwara state, Abdufattah Ahmed.

Mr. Saraki apologists claim he is a victim of state persecution on account of his alleged stance against the removal of fuel subsidy and his presumed ambition to contest for presidency in 2015.

His appologists, however, say nothing of his role in the loan scam and the alleged criminal implications of his role.