As the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki continued at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Tuesday, May 18, the first prosecution witness, Micheal Wetkas revealed how the accused acquired a London property worth N375 million in 2010, which he did not declare in his asset declaration form.

Saraki is facing a 16 count charge at the CCT including false and anticipatory asset declaration which he was believed to have made when he was the governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2007.

Being grilled by the defence counsel, Paul Usoro, prosecution witness, Wetkas told the court that the Saraki did not declare the property on London nor the the liability of the loan in his asset declaration form submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau at the end of his second term as governor in 2011.

The counsel, Usoro however quickly dispelled count 11 of the charges accusing the senate presdient of failing to declare his liability of N375 million and the property in London as he stated that Saraki was not mandated to declare the N375 million as his liability because at the end of enure asset declaration as governor on June 3, 2011 his debit balance was about N36 million.

Wetkas maintained that even though the debit balance on the account was N36 million as at May 31, 2011, Saraki did not declare the property he reportedly bough with the loan in London.

The witness said, “There are two issues. The issue of the loan and the issue of property he used the loan to buy in London.

“Our position is that we are aware that the outstanding balance was not N375m but N36,042,202.04 as at that date.

“But if that loan was taken for something else apart from property, we would not have made an issue out of it. But it was taken to buy a property. Our position is that, that property should have been declared in this asset declaration form of 2011. And if it was declared in the asset declaration form, the source of how the property was acquired would have been declared that the money was sourced through loan.”

Adebayo Emuleomo