The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has declared that Senator Shehu Sani has a case to answer in the alleged involvement in name-dropping, and obtaining $25,000 from Alhaji Sani Dauda, the ASD Motors boss, in order to help shield him from investigations being carried out by the commission.
EFCC made the declaration barely a few hours after Sani accused the commission of plans to dent his image.
In its statement, EFCC explained that Sani was detained based on a valid court order.
The clarification, it said, was made against the backdrop of the allegation that Sani was being detained illegally.
The statement reads: “The Commission wishes to state that Senator Shehu Sani is currently facing criminal investigation, and he is being detained by the EFCC in very conducive environment, based on a valid court order.
“Invariably, claims in some quarters of the breach of his fundamental human rights, is merely in the imagination of the purveyors of such claims.
“Let it be stated clearly, that Senator Shehu Sani has questions to answer as regards the alleged involvement in name-dropping, and particularly obtaining $25,000 from Alhaji Sani Dauda, the ASD Motors boss, in order to help shield him from investigations being carried out by EFCC.
“For certain people to brazenly come out to defend a suspect, who is being probed for a serious offence as the one committed by Sani shows that they are not really conversant with his offence.
“It is unfortunate that certain people are ready to do anything to support evil for pecuniary gains. This is quite unfortunate!”
It would be recalled that Sani had earlier claimed that the allegation of extortion against him was baseless.
His words: “The allegations of ‘extortion’ against me is baseless, factless, unfounded, and hollow.
“It is a scripted stream of mischievous concoctions and utter fabrications using a puppet state agent; all aimed at splashing faeces and mud on me.
“The extortion allegation is nothing but a wholesale falsehood, packaged in a phantom anti-graft facade to taint, stain and mute me. That shall never happen if I am alive.
“I have made my statement and provided all my facts against their package of lies and I demand the EFCC to make public all the sheets of our statements and supporting documents for the world to see.
“My detention is unfair, unjust, prearranged and politically motivated.
“Alhaji Sani Dauda and his hidden sponsors have not been able to provide any proof of their allegations. I’m unjustly incarcerated on the ground of an arranged two page petition backed with no evidential or documentary proof.
“Fascism thrives in frame up of its critics.
“They claim extortion and here they are closing my bank accounts, searching my houses and offices and demanding that I declare my assets of which I have already done that at the CCB last year when I left the senate.
“Frame up cannot silence me!!!
“I have never ever met with the CJN or any judge or judges or ever called directly or indirectly to offer to give or to give directly or indirectly any form of gratification from Alhaji Sani Dauda.
“I have never ever discussed with ASD on any form of bribe or gratification to be given to any judge or any EFCC official.
“The bribe story is phantom, the bribe story is a fake, imaginative work of fiction, cruelly crafted to smear me, to frame me and to justify my persecution.
“The bribe story is a heap of blatant lies falsehood concocted and fabricated, using a front and the EFCC to premiere a state drama.
“ASD is a barely educated front for a state mission.
“Criminalizing me or ‘framing me’ will not silence me, bend me or compromise me.”
