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How to Rob a Family Bank-Bukola Saraki,The Billionaire Governor -THENEWS

June 26, 2007

*See Governor Bukola's Asset declaration forms in the E-Library

Even outside Ilorin, capital of Kwara State, no observer of the Nigerian political scene sneers at the Saraki political clan. Headed by Dr. Olusola Saraki, the Turaki of Ilorin, fondly called Oloye, the clan is an octopoid entity in Nigerian politics. The Saraki clan is not a creation of ultra-fertile minds, but a reality propped on cutting-edge political expertise and copious cash. These, over the last three decades, have ensured that Oloye is the sole determinant of who gets what in Kwara State.


Next to Oloye in the Kwara political hierarchy is Bukola, his first son and governor of the state. Smooth-faced, Bukola, a medical doctor like his dad, became known in partisan politics about six years ago when he announced an intention to run for governorship.


Not sufficiently experienced? No way, because the younger Saraki has learned fast, recognising that political influence, to a large extent, is determined by economic influence.

In a clime where unrestrained acquisition of wealth is a virtual guarantee of political influence, Bukola has amassed enough to ensure that the Saraki dynasty remains in the driving seat of Kwara politics for years to come, even after Oloye’s inevitable exit.

Even before becoming governor in 2003, Bukola had acquired more than enough to make him a political factor. Most of the acquisitions, investigations revealed, were made when the now distressed Societe Generale Bank (SGBN) was in the intensive care unit of the Nigerian banking sector. Bukola, an executive director of the bank, identified the acquisition of upmarket landed properties and swanky automobiles as a medium to express his wealth. Information obtained from the governor’s Asset Declaration Form, sent to the Code of Conduct Bureau on 16 September, 2003, three months after his inauguration, indicate that the Kwara State governor was worth about N9 billion in cash, properties and stocks. A breakdown of his Asset Declaration statement shows an annual income of N120 million and $224 million as rent from real estate in Nigeria and London respectively. From the estimates, Governor Saraki would have earned an additional $896 million and another N480 million as revenue accruing from rent in his real estate in Nigeria and in London.

In terms of cash at banks in Nigeria, the governor declared a cumulative cash deposit of N51.54 million, lodged in eight Lagos-based commercial banks. While the sum of N1.05 million was left at the Martins Street branch of SGBN in Lagos, N350, 000 was the balance at the Broad Street branch of EcoBank Nigeria plc. At the defunct Citizens Bank, Broad Street, Lagos, the figure was N390, 000; while another account in the same bank–operated under the trade name Better Foods Limited– had a deposit of N600, 000. Another account at the EcoBank branch on Lagos’ Broad Street, operated with the name Carlisle Properties & Investment Limited, had a balance of N10.25 million, while one in the Guaranty Trust Bank branch at Adeyemo Alakija, Victoria Island in Lagos, had a balance of N2.9 million. Bukola’s Better Foods Limited also had another N23 million lodged at the Oke-Arin branch of SGBN. Another N3 million was deposited at GTB, Adeyemo Alakija, Victoria Island.

But this is peanuts compared with the £3.3 million (N759 million) deposit in three separate London bank accounts. At Coutts & Co 440 Strand, London, the balance was £45,000 and £860,000 respectively. At Northern Trust International Banking Corporation, he had a deposit of $400,000. Another £2 million was resting at Fortis Bank, Camoile Street, London, under the name Tyberry Corporation.

Under Appendix 3 of the Asset Declaration Form, the governor gave details of his landed properties in Nigeria. With a total value of N2.282 billion, the list includes properties on Victoria Island, Lagos, and Maitama in Abuja. First on the list is a property at Plot 212 Musa Yar’Adua Street, Victoria Island valued at N700 million, with an annual rental income of N96 million. Next is an undeveloped plot of land at Lekki Phase 1, valued at N7 million. Another piece of land at Ibafo, near Ajah in Lagos, valued at N5 million also made the list. The rest include a building at 42 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi. This was valued at N750 million and at that time, drew an annual rent revenue of N110 million. Another building at 19, Ruxton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, had a value of N500 million and a rent revenue of N65 million. Yet another at 62, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, was valued at N100 million, with an annual rent revenue of N6 million. There were more. Number 15 A&B MacDonald Street, Ikoyi, was valued at N160 million and was spinning an annual rent revenue of N6 million. The list also included a property at 6 Volgs Street, Maitama in Abuja. This was valued at N60 million.

In Appendix 5 of the document, the governor gave a list of his landed properties outside Nigeria. The cumulative value of these was $12.95 million. On the list were 123A, Ashley Gardens, Thirleby Road, London, which had a value of $75,000 and an annual rental income of $54,000; a building at 56 Cheyne Court SW 3, London, valued at $900,000.
The property was drawing an annual income of $75,000 in rent. Number 54, Ashley Gardens in London’s Ambrasden Avenue was valued at $2.55 million; while the property at 141 Asheley Gardens on London’s Thirleby Road was valued at $600,000 and drew an annual rent of $37, 500. The governor also declared a house on Sleane Avenue in London. The value was $400,000 and yielded an annual rent of $30,000. Ormond House, Ormond Street in London had a value of $400,000 and an annual rent income of $28,000.

  Governor Saraki also mentioned his $2.55 million mansion at 53, Ashley Gardens, Ambrosden Avenue in London, and another property at 70 Bourne Street, London SW1 valued at $4.8m. Both were acquired in 2002, at a period when SGBN was gasping.

The Kwara State governor listed his movable assets as including 15 exotic cars with an aggregate value at N263.4 million. The list included a Mercedes S320 (N16 million) acquired in 1999; Mercedes S500 (N20 million); Mercedes G500 (N18 million); Mercedes V220 (N6 million) and Mercedes 300E, worth N2 million.

His garage, at the time, was also infested with a Ferrari 456 GT (N25 million); a Navigator acquired in February 2000 at a cost of N15 million; Mercedes M I 240 (N8.5 million); Peugeot 406 (N2.9 million); Mercedes CLK 320 (N9 million); and Mercedes E320 (N11 million), purchased in September 2002. There were also a bullet-proof Mercedes G500, acquired in November 2002 at a cost of N45 million; Mercedes S500 bullet-proof (N30 million) purchased in February 2003; a Lexus bullet-proof 4x4 (valued at N30 million), acquired in November 2003 and a Lincoln Navigator bullet-proof (N25 million), delivered in January 2002.

  Also revealed as immensely wealthy in the asset declaration forms are members of Governor Saraki’s immediate family. Under Appendix 7, Saraki provided details of assetsproperty of his four children – Tosin, Seni, Teniola and Teniayo. The four, claimed the governor, were worth N741.89 million in cash, properties and stocks within and outside Nigeria. The document also shows that Toyin, the governor’s wife, had a net asset of about N1.49 billion as at 29 May 2003, coinciding with the investigations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into transactions in the Saraki-owned SGBN. The investigations centered on the disappearance of N17 billion of depositors’ funds.

As reported in TheNEWS of 24 October 2005, regulatory agencies had foreseen the disaster sparked by an array of banking stunts by the Sarakis. First to raise the alarm were examiners from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In fact, by mid 2002, SGBN’s capital base had been massively eroded. This implied that the bank needed about N500 million to recapitalize, as directed by the CBN.  To meet this target, the Sarakis came up with an ingenious plan, opting to sell its shares not to the general public, but to members of its board of directors which included Dr. Olusola Saraki; his wife, Florence; Bukola and nine others. While this contravened no rule, its mode of execution violated banking regulations. Instead of shopping for fresh funds, SGBN directors used N416 million in depositors’ funds for the exercise. Findings revealed that the cash was moved from the bank’s vault to other banks and cashed over the counter via directors’ cheques at the conniving bank. But the CBN examiners saw through this trick and queried the directors. But the directors had a readymade answer: the money used was obtained through a black market sale of forex brought in from abroad, they told CBN. But the trick did not fool the CBN, which passed a guilty verdict on the Sarakis. In its report, the CBN declared that there “existed a possibility that depositors funds of SGBN might have been used in the payment of the rights, given the fact that in certain instances, SGBN bullion van was used in transporting the cash to the banks where managers’ cheques were obtained.’’  The CBN passed the baton to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), requesting a probe of the transaction. The NDLEA investigation teed off with the invitation of Dr. Olusola Saraki, his wife, Florence, Governor Saraki and nine other directors to answer allegations of money laundering. All the culprits were directly accused of buying shares at the ailing bank with depositors’ money. But the investigations were halted, following the intervention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Till date the whereabouts of the depositors’ funds have remained a matter of conjecture.

It was later revisited by the EFCC in early 2003. The commission’s discoveries were stupefying. With all its directors, including Governor Saraki, feasting on depositors’ funds, the EFCC concluded that about N17 billion must have vanished from the bank’s vault. TheNEWS gathered that upon interrogation by the EFCC in August and November 2004, Saraki senior denied using depositors’ funds to facilitate the phantom capitalization.

EFCC sources told TheNEWS in 2005 that Dr. Olusola Saraki claimed that the money used came from the sale of foreign exchange. He told the commission that his own share was realized from the sale of his houses in London, of which the proceeds were later changed at the black market. But a lie was put to Saraki’s claim when he failed to provide the address of the houses sold when they were demanded during interrogation. “Even if the politician truly sold the houses, he had breached the Money Laundering Act because the CBN was not aware of the transfer,’’ an EFCC source told the magazine. 

  
The CBN also noted that it appeared doubtful, given the fact that all 12 shareholders, including Governor Saraki, would not, at the same time, bring in the huge forex to exchange.

But the phantom recapitalization drive would amount to nothing when compared with other financial atrocities perpetuated on SGBN by Oloye and his son.
Trawling through what remained of SGBN’s books, the EFCC discovered that a huge part of the missing funds were lost via barefaced stealing and a handful of insider abuses. In many instances, the EFCC noted, stealing was helped because most of the deposits were not documented.
An example was the fate that befell the sum of $1,497,508,520, funds owned by the then National Maritime Authority (NMA). The funds, which were kept in foreign accounts, suddenly evaporated. The disappearance began in January 2002, when the NMA appointed SGBN and a few other banks to collect, on its behalf, the 3 per cent levy on imported and exported goods from shipping agents. The levies were from the activities of shipping agents in port terminals at Forcados, Warri, Qua Iboe, Atlas Cove and Okrika. The agreement reached with SGBN stipulated that levies collected should be deposited into NMA accounts at a First Bank branch on London’s Finsbury Road and the Union Bank branch on Copthal Avenue in London. But the NMA discovered that the levies collected on its behalf by the SGBN never reached its destination. EFCC sources said the levies were diverted into a City Bank account (no-886667), which was not declared to the CBN, as required. From there, the cash made its flight. 
Fuelling directors’ rapacity was a maze of insider abuses in the shape of sharp forex practices. The biggest involved the procurement of foreign exchange worth $50 million from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). An EFCC source said the cash was taken to Deutsche Bank in New York and no evidence of the transaction was found in the bank’s record. Also, the CBN had no knowledge of the account in Deutsche Bank. The EFCC believes that depositors’ money was used for the purchase of the $50 million that ended up being stolen.  

Years after, Austin Okocha, former Super Eagles skipper, made a passionate appeal to former President Obasanjo to help him retrieve his trapped $1m savings at SGBN. Undoubtedly, Okocha remains the most prominent victim of the looting of SGBN by Oloye, his governor son and others. A former staff of the bank told the magazine that Okocha, who was then playing for the Paris-based Paris Saint Germain Football Club, was convinced to open the SGBN account after being told that the SGBN was affiliated to the Societe Generale Bank of Paris. Based on that assurance, Okocha was said to have diverted some of his earnings to the bank in the belief that SGBN was on solid grounds. The rest is now history, as sources told the magazine that the player, like other depositors, is left to lick their wounds alone.

Strangely, despite the evidences of voodoo banking, Governor Saraki and Oloye have escaped punishment and even censure. Though the governor cannot be prosecuted because he enjoys constitutional immunity, the elder Saraki is liable because he is not entitled to such.

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Meanwhile, quite a number of the bank’s depositors in Kwara and elsewhere have approached lawyers like Femi Falana and independent investigators, Saharareporters, to help trace their money.
But will the Sarakis be brought to book, given their relationship with President Umar Yar’Adua, especially now that the younger Saraki is the Chairman, Governors’ Forum?

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