Blame the Police if 2017 budget is not ready – Senator Goje

Former Governor of Gombe State and Senator representing Gombe Central, Senator Abdullahi Danjuma Goje, has said the Nigerian Police should be blamed, should the process leading to the presentation of the report on 2017 Appropriation Bill is delayed.

Goje, whose house was recently raided by the Police, is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations.

In a motion of personal explanation raised on the floor on Wednesday, the Senator said, the Police, in addition to the sum of N18m cash retrieved from over 50 occupants of his residence, also took away his laptop computer and 18 office files, where the 2017 Appropriation Bill was being worked upon.

The Senator, who condemned the “unlawful invasion” of his residence by the Police, also said that, the 4 – hour raid by the Police left him and his family in total trauma.

“For over 4 hours, the Police took siege of my house, none of my family members or staff was allowed to come in to eat. They were starved for 4 hours.

“As I speak, that incident has left my wife, children, grandchildren and other members of staff in total trauma, ” he said.

The Appropriation Committee Chairman also averred that, the Police broke almost all the doors, drawers and wardrobes in his house, in search of what he didn’t know.

“They also forcefully broke into some of the cars in my compound but found nothing”, he added.

Goje, however, appreciated the prompt response from the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives, through whom it was discovered that, the raid was from the Police. “We had thought it was the EFCC,” he exclaimed.

In his ruling, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki condemned the raid, describing it as unnecessary, adding that, the silence from the Police 5 days after the raid shows that the invasion was ill conceived.

The Senate, therefore, set up a 6 man committee to look into the recent activities of the Nigerian Police, with the view of checking its excesses.

The Committee, which is headed by Senator Jubril Barau, has the following Senators as members: Chukwuka Utazi, Monsunmola Sunmonu, Foster Ogola, David Umaru and Danbaba Abdullahi.