Shehu Sani rejects lie detector, Aide gives reason

Ex lawmaker, Shehu Sani’s Political adviser, Sulaiman Ahmed, on Monday, claimed his principal refused to take a lie detector test due to not being psychologically stable.

He also claimed the politician was being kept in an underground cell by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The People’s Redemption Party chief and former senator was arrested by the EFCC on December 31, 2019 for allegedly using the name of the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency, Ibrahim Magu, to extort money from the owner of ASD Motors, Alhaji Sani Dauda.

He was alleged to have demanded $20,000 from Dauda to help him influence cases at the EFCC and Supreme Court. Dauda petitioned the EFCC after allegedly given Sani $10,000.

Speaking through Rave FM in Osogbo, Sani’s Aide said, “A situation where you detain somebody for more than 10 days in an underground cell that whenever he will be given food, he will have to be calling some people from the top before he could be given food.

“After long detention, then you just bring a lie detector or a polygraph to him and then bring the other person who has been going around doing his business, joining them together.

“Psychologically the accused might not be in stable condition.

“How can a lie detector be able to understand that he has been under detention? He has been denied so many things. So that is the reason why he shunned the lie detector,” Ahmed added.

However, the EFCC has said its investigation into the extortion allegation against Sani is in line with international best practices.

The agency, has insisted that suspect was being justifiably detained, said this in response to questions about the alleged freezing of Sani’s bank accounts.

Acting spokesman for the EFCC, Tony Orilade, said this on Monday in response to Sani’s detention by the agency.

Orilade said, “What the commission has done so far with respect to the investigation of Senator Shehu Sani is within the ambit of the law. It is in line with international best practices.”

He also said it was standard process for suspects in the agency’s custody to declare their assets.

He insisted that Sani had a case to answer, adding that he was being held in “a very conducive environment based on a valid court order”.

The Senate President of NANS, Gambo Abubakar, in a statement, asked the EFCC to arrest Dauda, the car dealer without delay.

“Dauda is the self-confessed giver in this case, both the giver and the receiver have committed crimes against the laws of the land”.