HARD FACTS yesterday put a lie to stories spreading on the internet and
some soft sell magazines that billionaire businessman, Dr. Wale Babalakin, is
dating Senator Gbemisola Saraki.
Friends
and family members of the personalities who were interviewed yesterday
described the story as a figment of imagination of certain
persons, who have relished an unrelenting war on Dr. Babalakin and his
companies
and have failed at every turn.
A South-East Senator who pleaded for anonymity said that those who are
after Babalakin would stop at nothing in their bid to pull him down.
He said: “In the first instance, as alleged by one of the articles,
Babalakin is said to be indebted to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria
(AMCON) and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) to the tune of N13.5billion, a story
known by all discerning members of the public to be absolutely false.
“Dr. Babalakin had issued a statement through his companies that he had
a judgement credit of N132billion against the alleged indebtedness of about
N13billion and had sought for a set-off of this judgement debt.
“It is interesting to note that the court has ordered that this set-off
be implemented since 2012, and there has been no successful appeal against the
judgement.”
The case is Bi-Courtney vs. Attorney General of the Federation, and the
judgement was delivered on April 5, 2012.
While describing the sponsors of the publication as serial losers, the
lawmaker said: “They are trying to break the family friendship of Dr. Babalakin
and the Sarakis, and it does appear, with one objective of upsetting Dr.
Babalakin and his family after they had lost every application in court.”
A source close to the Saraki family also described the story of an
affair between Dr. Babalakin and Senator Saraki as “shock tactics in a bizarre
war”. He revealed that Dr. Babalakin was counsel to Societe General Bank (SGBN)
owned by Dr. Olusola Saraki in the case of SGBN vs. Central Bank of Nigeria,
after the bank was closed down and liquidated by the Federal Government.
His words: “Dr. Babalakin, on the instructions of the renowned former Senate
leader, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, challenged the matter in court, argued it
personally, which led to victory where the bank’s license was restored. And
happily, the bank is now operating as Heritage Bank in Lagos.
“It is even rumoured that this event was the harbinger of the close
relationship between the families, which promoted Babalakin to a confidant of
Dr. Olusola Saraki until his last day on earth.”
While reacting, the South-East senator also noted that “these serial
losers instigated corruption charges against Dr. Babalakin, coinciding
uncomfortably with the revocation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on the ground
that the project was not being handled diligently, and that Julius Berger was
starting on the project immediately to enable Nigerians to benefit from the
revocation.
“I’m lost for words and totally confused that since the revocation, the
road has deteriorated beyond what it was when Babalakin’s company was managing
it.
“Reports have shown that there have been more fatal accidents and deaths
on the road since the Federal Government took over.
“Besides, some of us have confirmed that Babalakin was only taken to
court on trumped-up charges of laundering N42.7billion for former Governor
James Ibori to prevent him from asserting his judicial rights for the unlawful
termination. Senior lawyers contacted have said that nothing in the charges
constituted money laundering, but merely a malicious expression of vendetta. These
figures were only inserted to scandalize Dr. Babalakin, and give an impression
that he was involved in some looting.”
When asked about media reports on the involvement of the Metropolitan
Police, a leading lawyer who has been following the case closely, said: “It was
astonishing that a section of the newspaper published categorically from the
figment of their imagination that the Metropolitan Police would be available to
testify against Dr. Babalakin during the trial.
“Shockingly, pertaining to all witnesses, within the case, there’s no
single action by the Metropolitan Police, and there’s no witness from outside
the country; these were statements made by serial losers to scandalize the
billionaire businessman, outstanding scholar, and great intellectual. The
issues are very clear, but the scandals continue.
“For those who are very close to Dr. Babalakin, we know that he enjoys
matrimonial peace and a very happy family.
“These stories were simply cooked up to upset the apple cart and hurt
Babalakin and his entire family and business associates.”
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