The Nigeria Police has denied accusations that the 2017 budget documents were some of the items seized from the home of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje. The police claims that they only took monies believed to have been stolen and some other documents.
The police raided Goje’s Asokoro home in Abuja last Friday, carting away millions of naira and some documents.
Goje has, however, accused the police of taking the documents of the 2017 budget, which has stalled its passage.
Spokesman of the police, Jimoh Moshood, has denied the allegations, stating that Goje’s claims are meant to distract the force from carrying out its duties.
“A search warrant duly obtained from court of competent jurisdiction was professionally executed in the house of Senator Danujma Goje on 20th April, 2017 at No 10 Haile Salasie Street, Asokoro District Abuja which was subsequent upon intelligence report at the disposal of the force that large sum of money suspected to be stolen public funds and other incriminating items are about to be moved out of the said house,” Jimoh Moshood, police spokesperson, said in a statement on Thursday.
“It is worthy of note that on arrival of the police team to Senator Danujma Goje’s house, the house keeper Ango Usman informed the senator of the presence and mission of the team and he promised coming but later switched off his phone.
“The search warrant was successfully executed in the presence of three close relatives of Senator Danjuma Goje who are residing in the house and the recoveries were made in their presence.
“The three relatives listed below opened the house and took the police team round the building, and endorsed their signatures after the completion of the search as required by the procedure of law on search warrant which contained the money, documents and laptop recovered, and none of the items include 2017 budget document. This is available for inspection by any interested members of the public.”
“The Nigeria police force wishes to state categorically that there was no single document relating to 2017 budget sighted or removed by the police team that executed the search warrant. There is video recording of the execution of the search warrant,” Moshood said.
“The Nigeria police force sees the report in the media credited to Senator Danjuma Goje as a deliberate distraction to cast aspersion on police investigation to pervert the end of justice.”