Date: 2012-05-07

It's troubled moments for Senator Bukola Saraki, former governor of Kwara State who has been answering questions before the Special Anti-Fraud Unit, SFU, of the Nigeria Police over an alleged N9.97 billion loan write-off. Saraki was alleged to be involved in the suppression of a loan he had procured from Intercontinental Bank plc, but which was written off by Mr. Mahmoud Lai Alabi, the bank's former managing director.

Intercontinental Bank had granted N9.97bn out N11.97bn loans in 2010 to four companies in which Saraki allegedly had substantial interests. The loans, granted while he was governor, were for Linkers, Dicetrade, Skyview Properties and Joy Petroleum. The former governor collateralised the loans with his choice property in Ikoyi and Victoria Island in Lagos and in Abuja.

The SFU had on 18 April 2012 pulled in Alabi over a petition from a certain relative of a deceased whistleblower who had discovered some financial malfeasances allegedly perpetrated by Alabi in favour of Saraki. The mystery whistleblower was believed to have been hacked down by hired assassins as a way of silencing him.

Alabi was accused of writing off loans totalling N40bn under questionable circumstances, in breach of banking rules and procedures. Curiously, the same loans had been classified as "good" and "performing" by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, examiners in 2009. But it was later discovered Alabi had written them off. And rather than the bank selling off the property for default and recoup its money, Alabi was reported to have released the title documents to Saraki after the former governor had made a paltry repayment of N2.3bn.

SFU spokesperson, Ngozi Isintume, on 20 April, said that Alabi granted "a controversial waiver of N9.97bn, representing about 82 per cent of N11.97bn indebtedness in February 2010" to companies allegedly promoted by Senator (Dr.) Bukola Saraki between 2004 and 2009. Isintume added that the loans facilities were used to purchase shares of blue chip companies and choice landed properties in Lagos and Abuja. For his nexus to the matter, the detectives on, 23 April, invited Saraki for questioning. He spurned the invitation, but rather sought a court order restraining the police from arresting him. Saraki's lawyer, Rafiu Lawal Rabana, a senior advocate, on 25 April, filed the motion before Justice Gladys Olotu of the Federal High Court, Abuja. He asked the court to determine if his accused client could be invited by the police to help in investigating a matter in which he had no link. Strangely, an aide of the embattled senator went to town with news that the judge had granted the injunction. The police, apparently undeterred, vowed to arrest the senator. Rabana impugned the police, saying that they "have made it clear that they do not have respect for the judiciary". As serious as it was laughable, the court denied granting such injunction in Saraki's favour.

His media spokesman, Akintoba Fatigun, described the invitation as "a deliberate smear campaign to abridge his (Saraki's) right and muzzle his voice." The former governor promised to appear before the police interrogating team on 27 April, but failed to do so. While he was being awaited, his supporters, who had come in over 20 buses from Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, stormed the SFU's Ikoyi office. The supporters, who sang Saraki's praises, were led by Mr. Ishola Fulani, the Peoples Democratic Party's Kwara State chairman. Owing to Saraki's failure to appear as he had promised on 27 April, the police declared him wanted. On Monday, 30 April, Saraki submitted himself to police interrogators at the SFU department in Abuja, instead of Lagos.

As witnessed in Lagos the preceding week, Saraki's supporters thronged the SFU in five buses to show solidarity with him. Saraki was grilled by the police detectives for hours and was only released on bail in the evening. The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, had described the session as a "serious interrogation." It was said that Saraki had used the intervening period to make high-level contacts to the Presidency and Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar for a soft-landing.

Following Sanusi Lamido Sanusi's appointment on 4 June 2009 as CBN governor, he initiated some reforms for the banking sector. Five banks, including Intercontinental Bank, were adjudged to be improperly managed by their managing directors. The indicted banks' managing directors, including Intercontinental Bank's Eratus Akingbola, fell under the CBN's axe. The CBN consequently appointed turn-around managers for the banks, with Alabi designated to take over from the fleeing Akingbola. After the appointment of the new managers, including those of the Finbank, Union Bank, Oceanic Bank and BankPHB (all defunct), things began to happen in quick succession. The Renaissance Professionals, an aggrieved shadowy group, launched a sustained media blitzkrieg against Sanusi over his forced take-over of the banks. The group accused Sanusi of double-standard and vindictiveness in his banking reform agenda. The group, which was estimated to have expended over N200m on advertorials in newspapers, equally accused Sanusi of pursuing a sinister Northernisation agenda.

In August 2010, when he sneaked into the country, Akingbola petitioned the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke. The petition, titled, "Fraudulent Take-over of Intercontinental Bank plc by Dr Bukola Saraki, Malam Lamido Sanusi & Mahmoud Lai Alabi," catalogued an alleged "systematic take-over of the bank from its owners". He alleged that Alabi, who was recommended to Sanusi by Saraki and had worked as his employee as managing director of Songa Farms, was the recruit for the job. He told the Justice Minister that Alabi recruited former staff of the defunct Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, SGBN, to replace those of Intercontinental Bank, as executive directors and loan managers. He specifically mentioned Gbenga Alade, formerly of SGBN, and now executive director, Risk Management of the bank. "In fact, Saraki is running IB PLC by proxy. Saraki has now used his political power to take over the bank," he submitted.

He said Saraki's grouse against him started when he turned down his request to merge SGBN with Intercontinental Bank. "We conducted a due diligence exercise and noticed N30 billion negative capital. So the board of IB PLC turned it down. Saraki was very unhappy," Akingbola said. Saraki did not show his discontent though, and went ahead to obtain a fresh N8bn loan from the bank. Akingbola said Saraki had insidiously blacklisted him before Sanusi, whose appointment he (Saraki) recommended to former President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua. Akingbola stated further that he had heard from sources that Sanusi was unhappy with him, accusing him and former managing director of Oceanic Bank plc, Cecilia Ibru of raising N6bn to stop his confirmation before the senate. He said he debunked the allegation before Sanusi, and sought Saraki and Alhaji Aliko Dangote to intervene. The sacked banker quoted Sanusi to have told him that "he had put that behind him, as "not all kingmakers in council will support the choice of a new Emir."

Akingbola said he was surprised to hear Dangote say that Sanusi revealed that Saraki was behind the bribery allegation. He clarified that the loans Alabi wrote off were not toxic loans, as they had earlier been adjudged "good" and" performing" by the previous CBN examiners. He said he got wind of a CBN examination report of May 2010, which queried Alabi's massive loan write-off in Saraki's favour. Saraki himself was managing director of the SGBN until 2003 when he opted for politics. The bank became distressed, with huge depositors' fund trapped in it. For its inability to meet CBN stipulations on the N25bn recapitalisation, the apex bank withdrew its operating licence. In a 2008 ruling, Justice Binta Nyako stated that SGBN's licence revocation was without justification and in bad faith. The CBN appealed the judgment, but later withdrew its appeal. SGBN's failure under Saraki was attributed to poor management. The Economic and Financial Crimes commission, EFCC, at a point investigated the bank over N17bn depositors' fund, which suddenly disappeared.

The CBN passed the baton to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, requesting a probe of the transaction. The NDLEA investigation teed off with the invitation of Saraki and his wife, Florence and nine other directors to respond to allegations of money laundering. All these were directly accused of buying shares at the ailing bank with depositors money. But the investigations were halted, following the intervention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Till date, the whereabouts of the depositors' funds have remained a matter of conjecture. Questions were also raised on the disappearance of the sum of $1.49bn owned by the then National Maritime Authority, NMA. The funds, which were kept in foreign accounts suddenly evaporated.

The NMA had appointed the SGBN and a few other banks to collect, on its behalf, the three per cent levy on imported and exported goods from shipping agents. SGBN was also allegedly involved in the procurement of foreign  currencies worth $50mn from the Niger Delta Development Commission. The cash was alleged to have been taken to the Deutche Bank in New York with no evidence of the transaction recorded in SGBN's books. Not even the CBN had knowledge of the account in Deutche Bank. Funds of many depositors were trapped in the bank. One of them was ace footballer, Austin Okocha, whose $1mn savings was trapped in the SGBN.

Saraki's present travail seems to have opened the floodgate of other misdemeanours he allegedly committed as governor. Chairman of Kwara Freedom Network, KFN, Iyiola Oyedepo said the group was one with the police on his investigation in the loan scandal. He said the KFN was prepared to assist the investigators with relevant evidence to aid their Saraki's prosecution. He added that there were five other petitions bothering on fraud against Saraki with the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences, ICPC. Oyedepo lamented that those petitions, including one on Saraki's "Mismanagement and Siphoning of Local Government Councils' Fund in Kwara State", have not been investigated by both anti-graft agencies.

One petition to the EFCC by the Kwara Equity and Justice Forum, dated 5 October 2006, accused Saraki of siphoning N7.8bn, which accrued to the 16 local government councils in the state between 29 May 2003 and 31 March 2011. It claimed that there were no elected council chairmen at the time, save directors of personnel management and later, caretaker committees put in place at the time. The two bodies reportedly did not have direct access to federal accounts, but were merely giving funds to cover salaries, personnel emoluments and N200,000 running expenses per month. The forum urged the EFCC to investigate Saraki on the use of the funds before elected chairmen took charge of the councils on 1 April 2004.

Even with the elected chairmen on board, the forum queried sundry illegal deductions of council funds to finance projects that were allegedly not implemented. For instance, the sums of N167.2mn, N353.5mn and N330.4mn were said to have been deducted and misappropriated between April and May 2004 and July 2005 respectively.

In another petition to the EFCC on 2 May 2012, KFN executives, including Oyedepo, Biodun Kolawole and Hassan Atanda, asked that the anti-graft agency beam its searchlight on the operations of Shonga Farm Holdings Ltd. The group said it discovered that the purported collaborative Agriculture Agreement with white Zimbabwean farmers might be a ruse. Rather than the impression being given that the farmers were foreign investors, it claimed the Saraki administration gave a loan of N35mn to each farmer. It posited that N1.05bn was given to the 15 farmers before they commenced operations in 2004. The group is questioning the qualification of the white farmers as owners or part owners of the project without any financial contribution from them. "If public money was deployed the way Bukola Saraki had done between 2003 and 2011, there is need to investigate the rationale behind it," the group said.

Saraki, who was governor of the state for eight years, etched himself into the country's power matrix as chairman of the Governors' Forum. He wielded enormous power during the tenure of ex-President Yar'Adua, and a reckonable force during the scheming to make President Goodluck Jonathan, then a vice president, to succeed his boss, Yar'Adua. In the build-up to the 2011 presidential election, Saraki filed out as a contender to the post. He later shelved his ambition to support President Jonathan's candidature. He was elected senator, representing Kwara Central in 2012, thereby succeeding his sister, Senator Gbemi Saraki, who formerly occupied the seat.