UBEC Allegations: Saraki Issues Ultimatum to Kwara Governor to Retract Comment

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, yesterday asked Kwara State Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to within seven days withdraw the allegation that he embezzled funds for the state Universal Basic Education Fund(UBEC) fund and also that he allegedly used his position as 8th Senate President to prevent the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating the case while in office, or face the legal action.

AbdulRazaq had at the inauguration of the campaign council of the Kwara Central senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC) Mallam Saliu Mustapha in Ilorin, had while talking about Saraki, alleged that: “But for their boss being the Senate President at the time, most of these characters would have been in jail for the UBEC money they stole”.

According to him, “for seven years, the state was blacklisted by UBEC over alleged fraudulent diversion of its funds meant for Kwara schools by previous administration under PDP.”

The governor, asking UBEC officials why the matter wasn’t reported to relevant security agency, had said he was told that the fear of PDP leader at the time being the Senate President made the commission back out of taking such action.

But in a statement issued in Ilorin, signed by the Press Officer on Local Matters to Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office, Mr. Abdul Abdul, and made available to journalists described, “the claims by Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq on the case as an outright lie which the governor must retract immediately.”

Saraki noted that, “the governor has only seven days to retract the statement or he will meet him in court to prove his false claims.

“I have ignored all his lies all this while as I believe he was resorting to that cheap escape measure to mask his failure in governance.

“Now, I will have to take strong measures by challenging him in court since he will not desist from fabricating lies against me.

“I have told my lawyers to write him to retract the statement or be ready to prove it in court”, Saraki stated.