The Kwara State Government has denied supporting a former Governor of the state, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, in the investigation of the allegations of diversion of N21 billion loan obtained from Intercontinental Bank Plc.
This is coming as information filtered in that the former governor has been released to go home after honouring the invitation of the police in Abuja instead of Lagos where he was invited.
He is, however, to report to the Special Fraud Unit in Lagos on Wednesday.
In a statement by Alhaji Wahab Oba, the Chief Press Secretary to the state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, the state government said the presence of Ahmed and other top politicians in the state in Lagos, where Saraki was to honour the invitation of the special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police on Monday, was coincidental.
Oba said that Ahmed had been in Lagos since Sunday whereas Saraki was due to honour the invitation of the police on Monday.
Though Saraki eventually did not come to Lagos but rather went to Abuja to honour the invitation of the police, scores of his supporters were at the SFU office to show support for Saraki.
The statement by Oba, in reaction to allegations by the Action Congress of Nigeria, reads: “The attention of the Kwara State Government has been drawn to a press release by the ACN making spurious allegations against the state government.
“The government states that the allegations are a potpourri of falsehood and deliberate misrepresentation of facts perhaps to remain undeservedly relevant.
“We want to place it on record that the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, was in Lagos on Sunday 29th of April 2012 with some top government functionaries to interact with Kwara professionals resident in Lagos on his shared prosperity agenda.
“It would be recalled that Governor Ahmed just returned from a three nation investment drive where he sold his Share Prosperity agenda to prospective investors in the United States, Netherlands and the UK.
“The presence of Gov. Ahmed in Lagos State over the weekend was to update professionals who are of Kwara State origin about the new drive of his administration to enhance industrial development in the state and to urge them to buy into the investment opportunities.
“Perhaps the opposition is confused about the presence of top politicians, lovers, admirers and supporters of distinguished Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki led by the Chairman of the PDP, Hon. Ishola Fulani at the office of SFU in Lagos to in recognition of the Senator`s tremendous achievements when he was the state governor and his status and significance in Kwara and national politics.
“For emphasis, the presence of top government functionaries in Lagos at the time Senator Bukola Saraki was expected to keep an appointment with the police was purely coincidental. We will therefore appreciate if the opposition could realize this fact.
“The Kwara State Government is busy with providing good governance and remains committed to the actualization of its holistic programme of Shared Prosperity with particular emphasis on the provision of quality health services, acccess to qualitative and Human Capital Development Based Education System among others. It therefore wants all the good people of Kwara State at home and abroad to join hand with him for the development of our dear State.
“While we fully identify with the Leader of the governing party in the state, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, we want to assure Kwarans that the running of government business has not ceased and we remain irrevocably committed to the implementation of the policies and programmes of our party, the PDP.”
Meanwhile, scores of Saraki’s supporters stormed the Lagos office of the SFU in anticipation of the quizzing of Saraki by the police.
Saraki is being investigated for illicitly obtaining a loan from the defunct Intercontinental Bank through a proxy company, Joy Petroleum, owned by his late aide, Matthew Obahor.
The former governor, now a senator, had said in a statement on Saturday night that he would “be making himself available to assist the SFU at the appropriate office 9am Monday morning.”
By noon on Monday, about six chartered 18 seater buses, filled to capacity, arrived at the Milverton Road office of the SFU from Ilorin, a four hour drive, in company with officials of the Kwara State Government and the Peoples Democratic Party, who came in their official vehicles.
“We are here to show solidarity to our leader and mentor,” said Ishola Balogun, the Kwara State Chairman of the PDP, while addressing journalists.
Balogun added: “For the past eight years, Saraki is somebody that has turned Kwara to an industrial state.
“Kwara state is known as a civil service state before he came but for the past eight years, the development we have gotten is very very tremendous.”
Women, bearing posters of Saraki, chanted and danced to solidarity songs calling on the police to “let the matter die.”
There was a mild confusion after Balogun finished addressing newsmen.
A woman party leader wanted to be the next to speak but she was quickly hushed by the leaders of the crowd.
A member of the Kwara State House of Assembly who took her place, Hon. Ebun Owolabi, said: “We are not saying that police should not do their job.
“We are only vouching for him.
“That this man is a man of integrity.
“They should treat him like a man of integrity and honour.
“He is a person who always preaches that he always want everything to be transparent.
“And he is the first person till today who has instituted due process law and he is the first governor that did it in the whole of Nigeria.
“We believe him that he can never do such a thing.”