Kwara State House of Assembly has the allegation of witch hunting against the former Senate president, Senator Bukola Saraki.
The House further explained that the revocation of the chalet given to the former Senate president as a gift by former governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is a property of Kwara State government, adding that ” there is no evidence that any politician paid for it”.
In a statement, media aide of the Kwara State House of Assembly Speaker, Yakubu Danladi, Ibrahim Sherif, said the allocation of the posh property to Saraki was in “violent violation” of the Kwara state former Governor’s Pension Law 2010 which had already taken care of him within the provisions of the law.
The legislators are responding to a report in a daily (not THE ELITE TIMES) accusing the state government of witch hunting the former Senate president.
Mr. Danladi said the Ile Arugbo had been erected on a land originally meant for the expansion of the Civil Service Clinic and Phase II of the State Government Secretariat without any evidence that anyone paid a dime to the government for the land.
He said the noise about the affected properties was politically motivated as other public properties unlawfully taken over were also being looked into.
The statement reads: “We dare say that allowing impunity to stand, no matter who is affected and how long ago it had taken place, is a disservice to the state and its people. It would be a signal to those coming that impunity pays and would be allowed to stand. The two developments upon which the article is based reek of impunity of the concerned party which the newspaper is apparently trying to protect for reasons not connected to the interest of Kwara and its people.
“Apart from the fact that the purported sale of the Alimi Chalet did not conform to the Kwara State former Governors’ Pension Law 2010, as amended, which incidentally was the brainchild of Senator Bukola Saraki, we contend that there is no record anywhere that Senator
Saraki paid a dime to have the property transferred to him. The transfer only fits into what the late Fela Anikulapo called ‘paddy-paddy’ arrangement. Unfortunately, despite expositions made in the findings of the House Committee on Land Housing and Urban Development about the illegal acquisition of the Alimi Chalet, the publication only relied on comments by Senator Saraki’s sympathizers to form opinion of acclaimed due process in acquisition of the property.
“We challenge the affected party to prove the contrary to not just the people of Kwara but to the entire world they are trying to instigate by presenting evidence of payment for the property. The Pension Law took adequate care of the former Governor. The pension law allows ex-governors a five bedroom duplex, as opposed to the Alimi Chalet, which consists of three (3) separate Chalets with 3 boys’ quarters of 3 rooms each, and therefore does not fit into the recommendation of the Pension Law of 2010.
“Also, aside the 3 houses on over one hectare of land on Alimi Road that was supposedly given to Saraki under the State Pension Law, Senator Saraki also got N250 million under the same Pension Law to build another retirement home for himself. The said Alimi Chalet, which was gifted to him, is the property of the people of Kwara State and was never contemplated as a gift to former governors.”