Saraki Reacts To Reports DSS, Army Officers Stole N310m From His House

Following media reports that security operatives attached to Senate President Bukola Saraki stole N310m from the Miatama home of the Kwara State Governor, his media office Sunday, March 2 dissociated itself from such reports.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President, Mr. Sanni Onogu, said no military officer was attached to Saraki.

The statement read in part, “The attention of the Media Office of the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has been drawn to a rehash of mischievous and concocted allegations aimed at misleading the public with spurious claims that the Senate President allegedly owned the sum of N310m said to have been stolen from a bureau de change operator in November 2015 by suspected operatives of the Department of State Services and some Nigerian Army personnel.

“This office wants to reiterate that the Senate President had nothing to do with the said stolen money by suspected security agents, then and even now, as being maliciously peddled by some online media to tarnish his image.”

 The media office recalled that the incident was reported by the media in December 2015 and when a section of the online media “which has become notorious for dragging the name of the Senate President into issues that he knows nothing about,” the DSS issued a statement in which it stated that it had arrested some of its men that partook in robbing a bureau de change operator in Abuja.

But the media office added that it also issued a statement in reaction to the “false report,” stating that the Saraki had nothing to do with the money allegedly stolen.

Onogu stressed, “We still insist that he has nothing to do with the money and we challenge those still rehashing the stale and fake news to avail themselves of the reports of the police and the DSS on the matter to avoid misleading members of the public unnecessarily.

“Let me state that the Senate President has no army personnel among his security details. Therefore, it becomes absurd for one of the suspect in the robbery to have claimed according to the report that the money was brought to the Senate President’s house from where they connived to steal it.

“The report remains a lie, which must be disregarded by the public; and should it be recirculated tomorrow, it will still remain a lie. At best, we count this unwarranted fake report as part of the April Fool ritual. But the public deserves a better deal from its sponsors and purveyors.