Police says Senator Goje Lied, No Budget Was Recovered From His House

Police have debunked claims by the Chairman of the Senate committee on appropriations, Danjuma Goje, that files containing 2017 budget were carted away during a raid on his Abuja home.

Goje, a former governor of Gombe, had told the Senate on Wednesday that police officers carted away cash, a laptop and 18 documents on the budget proposal, being worked on by his committee, during the raid on his residence, located at Asokoro, Abuja.
Based on Mr. Goje’s claim, the House of Reps gave Inspector General of Police 24 hours to return the budget documents purportedly taken away from Mr. Goje’s residence.
But in a statement released today by police spokesperson, Moshood Jimoh, the force said Goje’s claim was misleading and deliberately made to cast the police in bad light.
Supol Jimoh said the police action was professionally and lawfully carried out. He confirmed that cash, laptop and other documents were indeed seized during the raid on Goje’s residence.
He said none of the seized documents had anything to do with budget, but other matters, including business and political concerns and a document on how former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State allegedly plotted the murder of a cleric, Sheik Jafaru.
Giving the basis for the raid, police spokesperson disclosed that police action followed intelligence available to the force that Goje had huge cash, suspected to be proceeds of corruption at his home.

"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...

"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.

"Members of the public are hereby implored to disregards the report as search warrant which was professionally executed in the house of Senator Goje has nothing to do with 2017 budget."