ParadisePapers: I Violated No Law – Saraki

Senate President Bukola Saraki, has said he did not violate any Nigerian law in the establishment of Tenia Limited, a company operating in tax havens.

His statement follows a leaked data obtained by German newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung, and International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), showing that Saraki set up Tenia Limited in 2001, and ran it until at least 2015 as director and sole shareholder.

In a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Yusuf Olaniyonu, Saraki claimed that the company had been dormant since its creation, adding that it had no bank account.

According to him, he did nothing illegal in establishing the company and the company was incorporated long before he ventured into politics.

The statement reads: “Once again, the issue of offshore company registration, which was first raised in 2016 is being revived and thrown to the public space. As a responsible public officer, Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, will continue to explain his position. We know this is the period of politics when mudslinging is a common trick in the game.

“However, we will like to make it known that Dr. Saraki violated no law and did nothing illegal in the course of registering the company under reference, Tenia Limited, and afterwards.

“As we had earlier explained when the issue was first brought into public view, the company in question, Tenia Limited, was incorporated in 2001, long before Dr. Saraki ventured into politics and was elected into public office.

“The company from incorporation to date had never been used for any transaction. It held no asset. It had no bank account to the best of the knowledge of Dr. Saraki. Even if it did, the Senate President was not a signatory to such account. This is just a paper company and therefore could not have been used to hide any asset.”

Mr. Olaniyonu then suggested that Mr. Saraki forgot about the existence of the company, a possible reason he did not declare it in his assets form as required by law.

“The company, unlike the other ones investigated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), had been a dormant entity from creation such that when in late 2015, its existence was raised with the Senate President, he could not readily recollect that there was such a company linked to him,” he said.

“He then immediately directed that the company be struck off.

“For the umpteenth time, we will reiterate the fact that the Senate President has fully complied with the law on assets declaration, even as it concerns the company under reference.”