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…Repeated Declarations Made To CCB Before I Became Gov – Dickson

By Idowu Bankole

Immediate past governor of Bayelsa State and a serving Nigerian Senator, Chief Seriake Dickson has on Tuesday, cleared the air on a petition filed against him by an NGO asking the Economic and Financial crimes Commission, EFCC to investigate assets declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB by the ex-governor.

Vanguard had reported that the ex-Governor earlier today presented himself to the Economic and  Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, following an invitation by the agency over allegations bordering on abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds during his eight-year rule of Bayelsa State between 2012 and 2020.

Reacting, Senator Seriake Dickson in a statement personally signed and made available to Vanguard, maintained that his family assets were acquired in 2017 with loans and repeated declarations to that effect were made to the CCB before becoming Bayelsa State Governor.

He noted that obtaining a loan as a public officer was backed by a court judgement stating that there is no law breached in Nigeria obtaining a loan as a public off

He said, “About two weeks ago I received an invitation from the EFCC to clarify some issues relating to assets declarations as alleged by an NGO. On account of our busy schedule at the time, I wrote to inform them and we agreed to reschedule the interview for today.”

“As a law-abiding citizen and with a lifelong commitment to supporting Law enforcement and security agencies, I honoured the invitation today as rescheduled.  I understand that the subject matter of the inquiry relates to investments of my family trust, which I incorporated while being a member of the House of Reps to hold my family assets and investments which were made between 1996 and 2012 before I became Governor.”

Also Read: Breaking: EFCC grills ex-Bayelsa Gov. Seriake Dickson

Clarifying what led him to the EFFC headquarters and his position on the alleged false declarations, Senator Seriake noted that it is incumbent on him as a law-abiding citizen to clarify his positions with the EFCC as a body with responsibility to be empowered by law to investigative such matters.

He said, “I understand that there is a petition from an NGO alleging that these investments (largely buildings, plots, farms, etc in my village, Orua, Yenagoa, and two buy-to-let houses in the UK) were not declared. I have a duty to clarify these issues with the investigating authorities who by law have the responsibility to inquire into these matters.

“However, for the avoidance of doubts, let me state that my family investments, Seriake Dickson Trust Incorporated were made between 1996 and 2012 before I became Governor.

“These investments were funded by loans and advances and repaid from salaries, allowances, savings and others. One of them is still on the mortgage and I have made these documents available to the EFCC.

“These investments were declared in my assets declaration form at the House of Reps in 2011; my Governorship form in 2012, 2016, 2020 after I left office and the Senate Assets declaration form this year.

“I went beyond these declarations and wrote several letters to the appropriate agencies, copies of which have been made available to the EFCC. My trust and I subscribed to the federal government Voluntary Assets Income AND Declaration Scheme (VAIDES) and also paid the necessary taxes,” He said.

Seriake revealed that the investment in question has a court declaration stating that no law in Nigeria has been breached as a result of public officer loans from verifiable avenues.

He pointed out that, “As a result of blackmail from some quarters, the Trust and I went to the Federal High Court where there is a subsisting judgement declaring that no Nigerian law is breached by a public officer who takes loans and other verifiable avenues to make investments for his family provided these are declared.

“It should be on record that I have since resigned from the Trust Administration since 2011 before  I became Governor.

“My solicitors and those of the trust have written to the EFCC to clarify these issues with the accompanying documents.” He stated.

According to Senator Seriake, a new twist occurred at the headquarters of the EFCC with fresh allegations playing up by the investigative team.

He said, “However on getting to the commission,  the investigating team came up with a new allegation of diversion of flood funds in 2012 totalling N17.5 billion. The petition further alleged that the money was used for my re-election in 2019. The fact is that there was no such donation about the 2012 flood in Bayelsa.”

“Curiously, there was no mention of the donor or where the money came from. There was also no re-election for the governorship in Bayelsa in 2019 which are clear proof that the petition was totally frivolous.

“The commission after looking into these allegations have since asked me to return home on self-recognition.

“I have authorized this statement to be released for the avoidance of any misinformation,” He said.

Vanguard News Nigeria