N18m, $19,000 cash recovered from Goje’s house, police says

The Nigerian Police has said it recovered N18 million and $19,000 cash from the residence of Senator Danuma Goje, but denied carting away 2017 budget documents during the raid.
The Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris would today go to the National Assembly to explain the legality of the search.

The senator had alleged that the Police took away the budget document, therefore, the Police should be blamed for the delay in the passage of the budget submitted by the Executive in December last year. But the Police has come out to unequivocally state that “there was no single document relating to 2017 budget sighted or removed by the Police team that executed the search warrant. There is a video recording of the execution of the search warrant.”

Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) Jimoh Moshood insisted that the raid on the former Gombe state governor’s house in Asokoro district of Abuja, was carried out within the confines of the law, as search a warrant was obtained as stipulated by law and applied as appropriate, therefore the “report in its entirety is false, misleading and capable of misinforming Nigerians”.

Moshood explained that three relatives of the senator — Danjuma Mohammed, Ango Usman and Aisha Umar — were present when the search was conducted and they jointly signed to attest to what was recovered from the house at 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”.

According to the Police spokesman items recovered and available for inspection includes cash sums of ₦18,056,000, 19,850 US Dollars, and SR9, 400 (Saudi Riyal).

The police said recovered also were “thirty-Eight (38) files and six envelopes containing documents, some of which are:

• File on funds spent on security administration and information gathering– a-g – 2009;
• File on the release of funds for Special operations a- f – 2009.
• File on Gombe State Government of Nigeria Cash inflow 2005;
• File on Project 2007 – Executive Briefs on how to fight opposition in Gombe State – Strategies and Tactics;
• Envelopes containing permit to operate as an Oil Industry Service Company (special categories) 2011;
• A File containing write-ups on how Governor Shekarau plotted the assassination of Sheikh Jafaru and;
• Letters from Alhaji Mohammed Danjuma Goje (Sarkin Yakin Gombe) to the MD LUBELL Nigeria Ltd of proposed residential Devt at Kashere Phase II dated 16/01/2007 and 19/11/2010″.

While insisting that the action is consistent with Sec. 9 & 144 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the Police said nothing was done outside of the provisions of the law, therefore the claim its action would jeopardise the passage of the 2017 budget was just another distraction by the senator to cast aspersion on Police investigation to pervert the end of justice.