Senate President Bukola Saraki is not the owner of the N310 million stolen during a robbery operation in Abuja in 2015, a top official of the Department of State Security (DSS) said.

“The story making the rounds that the sum of N310 million belonging to the Senate President was stolen in 2015 is a malicious falsehood,” the security chief who declined being named said yesterday.

In December 2015, the DSS said it arrested one of its personnel Abdulrasheed Maigari, alongside others, for allegedly robbing a bureau de change operator in Abuja of N310 million.

The stolen money was reported to be allegedly belonging to Senator Saraki - an allegation he denied.

The security chief said “‎from our investigation, the money in question did not belong to the senate President or any member of the National Assembly for that matter.”

“The investigation conducted by the DSS and the confessional statement made by Abdulrasheed Maigari, a suspect in the case, did not support this claim at all,” the DSS chief said.

He said Maigari’s recent claim “is nothing but a made up story to achieve a hidden motive. The fact that Maigari, who is currently standing trial for an armed robbery case, could make up such a false claim is a further indication of how criminally minded he is.”

The source said “it was for his (Maigari) criminal behaviour that we dismissed him from the service in 2015 and subsequently charged him to court.”

He said “any attempt to link the Senate President or any member of the National Assembly with the stolen N310 million will be sheer blackmail and an outright mischief.”

Maigari, 35, was arrested in Abuja by police anti-kidnap squad in a surveillance operation conducted between March 26 and 28, a statement by the force headquarters spokesperson Jimoh Moshood.

The suspect, a native of Taraba State, was arrested alongside 10 other suspected criminals for allegedly kidnapping Issa Salami, a former General Manager of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria. (Daily Trust)

Update news