Our Arraignment By EFCC A Charade, says Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman

Former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman who was on Wednesday arraigned alongside a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Dele Belgore by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged N470m ‘proceed of crime’ has vowed that they would prove their innocence.

He described their arraignment at the Federal High Court in Lagos as an abuse of prosecutorial power by the EFCC.

Sulaiman, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Abuja, and Belgore, are chieftains of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara state.

In a statement shortly after they were granted bail by the court today, Sulaiman wondered why the EFCC would have issue with the donations to the Presidential Campaign of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said the EFCC in a bid to implicate them “was busy struggling and frantically searching for better word to use.”

According to him, “The whole charade is an abuse of prosecutorial power.”

He said, “Recently, Mr. Dele Belgore, SAN, and my humble self, were invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to its Lagos Office for questioning on N450million campaign fund during the 2015 Presidential elections.

“Of course, we were in the EFCC’s custody for a few days and today (Wednesday), by the grace of God, we were granted bail on self-recognisance.

“It is however  apt to  put the record straight and situate the development within the context of the politics currently playing  under the present administration.

“I wish to state unequivocally that this didn’t come to me as a surprise. It is a continuation of politics by other means, and that has nothing to do with the source of election funds that emanated from the presidential campaign office. The question is; what has EFCC got to do with donations voluntarily made by oil marketers to Jonathan government?

“The commission, in a bid to implicate us and set the general public against us, was busy struggling and frantically searching for better word to use. The whole charade is an abuse of prosecutorial power.

“But I assure you, it cannot stand in any court of law. We shall fight hard to prove our innocence and I believe the judiciary is there to do justice to this case. Thank God, we are not been alleged to personally enrich ourselves with the so-called fund,” the statement read. DAILY TRUST