EFCC: Saraki declared property that didn’t exist

Michael Wetkas, a detective of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday, told the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), that Senate President Bukola Saraki declared a property that did not exist.

According to him, the “ghost” property was said to be at 15b McDonald road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Asked by Paul Usoro, Saraki’s lawyer, if he stood by his testimony that the property which the defendant declared did not exist, Wetkas said: “Anything we bring before this court is derived from investigation.”

But the defence counsel extracted facts from the evidence tendered by the prosecution through the witness that the property actually existed.

One of the facts that was gleaned from the evidence of the prosecution was a letter written in 2008 by an occupant of the building, one Egwuagu, an engineer, to a presidential implementation committee, stating that he was in possession of the property as of 1994.

Also, the witness read out a report from the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) revealing that the property was verified, though in the report the property was said to lack “character.”

However, a heated exchange ensued over ownership of the property.

Usoro contended that there were three pieces of property located at McDonald road, Ikoyi (15, block A and B, and 15b), and that the property in contention might not be that of his client.

Wetkas agreed that there were three pieces of property in the same area, but did not give further details.