The Department of State Services (DSS) has exonerated Senate President Bukola Saraki and other members of the National Assembly of the theft of N310 million by one of its dismissed agents, Abdulrasheed Maigari.
The DSS described Maigari’s claim that he and other security personnel, including an army captain stole N310 million from the Senate President while guarding his house in Maitama, Abuja as ‘malicious falsehood’.
“The story making the rounds that the sum of N310 million belonging to the Senate President was stolen in 2015 is a malicious falsehood,’’ a senior officer of DSS told Thisday newspaper on Sunday.
“From our investigation, the money in question did not belong to the Senate President or any member of the National Assembly for that matter.
The investigation conducted by the DSS and the confessional statement made by Abdulrasheed Maigari, a suspect in the case, did not support this claim at all,” he said, adding:
“Maigari’s recent claim in the media is nothing but a made up story to achieve a hidden motive.”
He said the fact that Maigari, who is currently standing trial for an armed robbery case, could make up such a false claim was a further indication of how criminally minded he was.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President, Sanni Ologun, had on Sunday refuted reports linking his principal, Saraki, to the N310 million, which was allegedly stolen from a Bureau de Change (BDC) operator in November 2015.
“Any attempt to link the Senate President or any member of the National Assembly with the stolen N310 million will be sheer blackmail and an outright mischief,” the senior DSS official who did not want his name mentioned insisted.
Saraki has been linked to a series of financial crimes including an alleged false declaration of assets and the suspected diversion of the Paris Club refund.
