The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has reacted to the invitation extended to him by the police over the Offa bank robbery.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Yusuph Olaniyonu on Monday, he described the invite as a mere afterthought designed to achieve a political purpose.

“The police have obviously corrupted and politicised their investigations into the Offa robbery incident,” he alleged shortly after the news of his invitation broke.

“They have turned it into an instrument for the party in power to suppress perceived opponents, witch-hunt issue for blackmailing people from freely choosing which platform on which they want to pursue their ambition, and a matter for harassing the people whose exit from APC would harm the chances of the party in the forthcoming elections.”

The Senate President noted that the police had already decided on the suspects to arraign in court in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Wednesday, based on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mohammed Etsu.

He claimed that the police decision to invite him was an alleged ploy aimed at scoring cheap political points and to stop an alleged plan by some senators and members of the House of Representatives from defecting from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Senator Saraki, however, insisted that he would be intimidated by anyone and that he has nothing to do with the Offa robbery.

“While I continue to maintain that the issue of my position on the 2019 elections is not a personal decision for me alone to make, it should be noted that all these concoctions and evil plot cannot deter me. Those behind this fresh assault will fail as I have nothing to do with the robbery incident or any criminal matter for that matter,” he said.

The Senate President stressed further, “I want to make it apparent that I have no hand in either the robbery incident or any criminal activity. The police in their haste to embarrass me sent the invitation to me at 8:00 pm and requested that I report to the station by 8:00 am tomorrow morning. This obviously demonstrated their desperation as I do not see why they are now in a hurry.

“They also stated in today’s letter that because in my response of June 7, 2018, to their own letter written on June 4, 2018, I stated that I was responding simply to the contents of the letter and that the full text of the statement made by the arrested suspects which they claimed indicted me was not made available to me, they were now including the suspects statements in the current letter. Yet, instead of including the suspects’ statements, they only attached two copies of my own letter to the invitation. No suspects statement was made available.”

“Once again, my confidence in God and our judicial system remains intact and unshaken. The truth shall also prevail in this case,” he added.

•Culled from a Channels TV report.

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