The Police have softened their hard-line position on the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
Instead of asking him to report at the Force Intelligence Response Team’s office at Guzape, the Police now want Saraki to defend himself in writing.
The Senate President however has 48 hours to respond to questions raised by the Police over the recent Offa bank robbery and killings in Kwara State.
Saraki and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State were on Sunday linked to the deadly Offa bank robbery by the Police.
The Police said suspects arrested over the incident had alleged that Saraki and Governor Ahmed were their sponsors.
Consequently, the Police spokesman, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, asked Saraki to appear at FIRT’s office in Abuja to explain his role in the crime.
But on Monday, Saraki disclosed that he would no longer need to appear before the police for questioning, but to make his defence in writing.
In a post on Twitter, Saraki said that he received a formal communication from the police not to appear in person, but rather to respond in writing to questions bordering on the Offa robbery.
He said: “Following my earlier tweet, I have received the letter from @PoliceNG. They are no longer asking me to appear at any station, but to respond in writing to the allegations within 48 hours – which I plan to do”.
Before the Police changed their position, Saraki had on Sunday indicated his readiness to honour the invitation
Sequel to the invitation, Saraki hand on Monday morning ordered his Aide De Camp (ADC), Usman Dunguza, to obtain the formal invitation from the Police to enable him comply with it.
However, the invitation, which has been interpreted in many quarters both within and outside Nigeria as obvious political witch-hunt against the Senate President, attracted outrage and condemnation.
It was learnt that Saraki had called the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, requesting him to make specific security arrangements for him.
Also yesterday, Osinbajo met with Idris, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Lawal Daura, for over an hour.
Information gathered from the closed-door meeting held at the Vice President’s office in Presidential Villa, Abuja, indicated that the parley may not be unconnected with Sunday’s police summons to Saraki.
Asked by State House correspondents to explain what transpired at the meeting, the IGP directed all enquires to the ADC to Osinbajo.
Buhari had also on Monday met behind closed doors with security chiefs and heads of security agencies at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting which lasted for about an hour and half took place at the President’s office.
Those at the meeting included service chiefs and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufa’i.
Idris who was at the Presidential Villa, was not part of the meeting with the President, but later attended the parley with Osinbajo.
