Prosecutor Accuses Saraki’s Defence Team of Demoralising His Witness

• Witness admits he has no documents linking Saraki to London property
  Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) who is prosecuting the Senate President, Dr, Bukola Saraki, for alleged false assets declaration before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has accused Saraki’s lawyers of trying to demoralise his witness.

At the resumed hearing of the trial yesterday, Jacobs lamented the pace at which the defence was handling the case.
Jacobs accused the defence of attempting to confuse and demoralise the witness.
The witness, Mr. Michael Wetkas, has been subjected to rigorous cross-examination by the defence team.
Meanwhile, Wetkas has told the tribunal that he had no official documents linking the Senate President to the ownership of London property in which he (Saraki) is facing trial
While answering questions during cross-examination by the defence counsel, Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN), Wetkas said prosecution only obtained unofficial information of the London property from its foreign partners in London.
He said the partners promised to oblige the investigators with the official documents of the property, but they were yet to do so.

“In our investigation, we normally receive unofficial information from our foreign partners,” he said.
The EFCC witness also informed the tribunal that Saraki used the N375million obtained from GTBank to buy House No. 7 and 8, Whittaker Street, London in 2011 and 2015 respectively.

He gave the title number of the House No. 8, as NGL802235 and the second property as NGL802661.
The witness said he had requested from the GTBank to oblige him with the details of the property and the address.
He said the bank told them that the addresses of the properties were not disclosed to them.

Wetkas said from the loan documents attached, it showed that the N375miilion loan collected by Saraki from GTBank and that bank statements indicated that he used the said money to buy properties in London.
“When we see the statement on the mortgage redemption transfer telex, we are convinced that the defendant used the funds to acquire property in London,” he said.

The Chairman of the tribunal, Mr. Danladi Umar, adjourned the case till May 25 for continuation of cross-examination.