SAN FRANCISCO, January 17, (THEWILL) – The economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has presented 13 audio recordings to Senator Shehu Sani, which contains discussions between him and the Chairman of ASD Motors, Alhaji Sani Dauda, who has accused him of extortion.
The EFCC played the takes to the embattled former senator in the presence of his lawyers, Barrister Audu Mohammed Lawal, and Barrister Glory Peter at the agency’s facility where he is being detained as part of the investigations.
Though the activist-cum-politician admitted the authenticity of the conversations, he however said the recordings were incomplete suggesting that they may have been deleted.
It was the first time in four weeks that the EFCC had a breakthrough in the investigation of politician and it wasted no time in presenting its evidence to the suspect, according to The Nation’s report.
Sani is accused of fleecing the businessman of at least $25, 000 on the premise that he would pass it on as bribe to the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu in order to get the agency to stop investigating a matter involving him.
The politician had denied the allegations severally alleging that the accuser was being used by the state to discredit and taint his reputation.
“The bribe story is a heap of blatant lies and outright falsehood concocted and fabricated, using a front and the EFCC to premiere a state drama. ASD is a barely educated front for a state mission. Criminalizing me, or “framing me”, will not silence me, bend me or compromise me.
“The extortion allegation is nothing but a wholesale falsehood, packaged in a phantom anti-graft facade to taint, stain and mute me. That shall never happen if I am alive,” he said in a statement.
But the session could only go through five tapes when Sani allegedly “recanted.”
“A conversation between Sani and the complainant has introduced another dimension to his claims. At a meeting that took place at the Jabi office of the Commission on Wednesday, Sen. Sani, who had hitherto denied receiving any bribe money from Alhaji Sani Dauda, Chairman of ASD Motors, recanted his words after listening to five of the 13 voice recordings of his conversation and that of the chairman of ASD Motors, Alhaji Sani Dauda.
“After listening to the first of the 13 audio recordings, the Senator reportedly said ‘Do you have another one?’
“By the time the second and the third were played to him in the presence of his lawyers, Barrister Audu Mohammed Lawal, and Barrister Glory Peter, the embattled Senator said: “I am okay with this. I am okay with this”.
“When asked if he is familiar with the voices in the audio, he said: “Yes, that is my voice except that some aspects of the recording have been deleted”.
“Asked whether the EFCC or the complainant did the deletion, Sani said: “I am not saying you people deleted it. But that is not the complete conversation,” the newspaper reported quoting an unnamed source believed to be an operative of the agency.
The source gave further insights into what transpired at the session between the EFCC detectives, Sani and his lawyers.
The source added: “In the voice recording, Shehu Sani could be heard in Hausa language pleading with the complainant that he should do everything to make sure they resolve the issue because of their reputation.
“He was quoted as saying in one of the tapes as follows: ‘You have a family and I have a family; think of the way people will see the matter even though it is not public money’, he was alleged to have pleaded in Hausa.
“I believe you already discussed with Bashir; Bashir must have given you his personal advice on what we need to do so that this matter is buried here.’
In another instance, Senator Sani was said to also admitted that the money, $25,000, was “bribe money”.
He allegedly had two meetings with the complainant: one, at the complainant’s house and the second at the complainant’s office after the Muslim “Isha”(Dark night) prayers.
The source said: “Contrary to Senator Sani’s public posturing of his innocence in the alleged crime, he reportedly begged profusely after listening to the recordings that the matter should not be taken further to the media.”
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