Paris Club Fund: Saraki Hails Supreme Court For Overturning N3.5bn Decision Against Melrose

President of the 8th Senate, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has hailed the Supreme Court judgement, which overturned the Federal High Court’s 2018 decision regarding an alleged N3.5 billion fraud case against Melrose General Services Limited.

Saraki said the judgement vindicates his earlier stance that the case was politically motivated and a veiled attempt to witch-hunt him because he emerged as President of the Senate against the wishes of certain forces during the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The former Senate President said at the weekend in a statement signed by his Head of Media, Yusuph Olaniyonu, and made available to newsmen in Abuja after the Supreme Court judgment.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on April 27, 2018, secured judgment for the final forfeiture of N1.4billion which it claimed Melrose General Services Limited obtained from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) through false claims.

Melrose is allegedly linked to the then Senate President, Saraki, who was facing a political battle with some highly placed personalities within the Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressive Congress, APC, government.

Dissatisfied with the verdict of Justice Cecilia Olatoregun and the Court of Appeal which in May 2019, resolved the four contentious issues in favour of the EFCC, Melrose General Services approached the Supreme Court for redress, asking it to set aside the pronouncement of the lower courts.

Delivering judgment on Friday, June 7, the Supreme Court panel led by Justice Akomaye Agim(SC 1519/2019) set aside the judgments of the lower courts and ruled in favour of the appellant, Melrose General Services.

Reacting to the judgement on his handle on the social media platform, X, Saraki said the ruling has revealed the truth and affirms his earlier position of innocence.

The former Chairman of the NGF stated that the legal suit was a proxy war, aimed at persecuting him, undermining his political career, and and tarnishing his reputation.

Recall that the Nigerian government reached a debt relief deal with Paris Club in 2005, and paid $6.2 billion to guarantee a debt relief of up to $18 billion, according to the Debt management office.

But not long after the deal was reached, some states and local governments began raising questions about possible over-deductions of their share of the loan repayment. They argued that the deducted amount did not reflect their actual borrowings from Paris Club between 1995 and 2002.

The EFCC alleged that the N3.5bn paid to Melrose as part of the N522bn loan refund disbursed to all the states of the federation as a result of over-deductions, was fraudulent.

The EFCC claimed that after investigations, the N3.5bn was fraudulently paid to Melrose to carry out consultancy job for the Nigeria Governors Forum, when it did not do any such work. It said Melrose made several withdrawals within a short time leaving N1,222,384,857.84 before the EFCC intervened.

But according to Saraki, “As much as this case was between the EFCC and Melrose General Services Limited, it was a proxy war, with Melrose serving as a mere pawn in a larger scheme to victimise and persecute me. It was always clear that this case was a thinly veiled attempt by the Buhari administration to weaponise the legal system for political gain.

“The allegations of “Paris Club Fraud” were nothing more than a smokescreen designed to weaken the institution of my office, undermine my political career, and tarnish my reputation through spurious accusations similar to the Code of Conduct Tribunal, which also acquitted me of all charges. 

“As I said in my first appearance at the CCT, this is a politically motivated case. The case was trumped up in the first instance because I emerged as the President of the Senate against the wishes of certain forces.

“The fact that this case was even brought to court, based on dubious evidence and procedural irregularities, is proof of the length that some people will go to manipulate the legal system for political gain. It was a disservice to the Nigerian people and a waste of our limited but valuable judicial resources,” Saraki said.

The Peoples Democratic Party chieftain lauded the judiciary for ensuring that justice prevailed, and charged all to be inspired by the verdict in the fight against corruption and abuse of power promotion of Nigeria’s democracy. 

“I am profoundly grateful to the Almighty Allah, the ultimate arbiter of justice, for guiding the Supreme Court to this righteous verdict. I applaud the judiciary for their meticulous examination of the evidence and adherence to due process, which has ensured that justice prevailed. I also thank Melrose’s legal team for their tireless efforts in bringing this case to a just conclusion.

“Moving forward, we all have to canvass for fairness in the fight against corruption. We should see this verdict as an inspiration to champion the rule of law, promote democracy and its institutions, and tolerate divergent views,” he stated.

Chioma Kalu 

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