EFCC interrogates Saraki’s wife for six hours

Toyin Saraki

Wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s office in Abuja on Tuesday with a plethora of supporters who are lawmakers.

Mrs. Saraki was invited alongside Zainab Dankingari, the wife of a former governor of Kebbi State and daughter of the late president, Umaru Yar’Adua.

Mrs. Saraki arrived at the EFCC office by 12:36 pm and was taken into the Economic Governance Unit of the commission for interrogation and left the commission’s Idiagbon House headquarters, at Wuse 2, Abuja by 6.15pm.

Mrs. Saraki was accompanied to the EFCC headquarters by some senators, over 20 members of the House of Representatives and members of the Kwara State House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmad.

Some of the senators who visited the EFCC headquarters in solidarity with her are Senators Isah Sani, Dino Melaye, Abdul Abubakar, Binta Goje, Abdulahi Sabi, and Peter Nwaoboshi.

But some of the members of the National Assembly left after waiting for two hours, while others were at the commission until her release by 6:15pm.

She is expected to be at the commission to respond to questions for the second day on Wednesday.

However, the commission could not carry out the planned interrogation of Mrs. Zainab Dakingari. Although she honoured the commission’s invitation, the operatives had to postpone her interrogation to Wednesday on health grounds.

She arrived at the commission by 3pm and was allowed to go before 4pm.

The commission had invited both women to appear before it on July 22, 2015.

It was stated that while Saraki was invited to respond to questions about contracts executed in Kwara State when her husband, Senator Bukola Saraki, was Governor from 2003 to 2011, Dakingari was needed in relation to how N2bn belonging to Kebbi State was spent.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Saraki, has said that she would cooperate with any lawful inquiry in consonance with the ethos of democratic governance and expected the EFCC to carry out its responsibility with observance to the global practices of fairness, impartiality and transparency.

She said that she had ensured adherence to the stipulations of the law and observed international best standards in all her operations.