Senate President Bukola Saraki has said that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who discovered N13.3 billion ($43.3 million) from an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos are handling the controversy surrounding the recovery of the money very poorly.

According to him, the EFCC has a responsibility to tell Nigerians who the money belongs to, as it had become embarrassing that up till now there was no clarity on the ownership of the money.

The Senate President said what was presently going on was not good for the image of the country, and the National Assembly, as a last resort, might step in if the parties involved are unable to resolve it and tell Nigerians what is going on.

He said “I believe this is something simple that the organisation (EFCC) should manage, even before the speculation started coming out. The circus has to come to end as to whether it belongs to individuals, companies, agencies or a state government.

“We, however, believe they will sort it out and eventually tell Nigerians who owns the money. Nigerians deserve to know. The circus must stop,” he said.

He said Nigerians should not see the anti-corruption campaign of the present administration as the fight of President Muhammadu Buhari, but should be seen as a Nigerian fight, as it can only be won when viewed as an institutional issue rather than a personal one.

“I believe progress will be made faster if the process is transparent. Those are ways to strengthen institutions. When the process is transparent up to the investigative stage, people will not believe that it is because of this person that so, so, person is being prosecuted.

“Corrupt people are very patient, but with a transparent process, the fight against corruption will be won.

“On our part, we are doing all it takes to strengthen institutions. We have four bills before us, one is with the Constitution Amendment Committee, one has been taken back by the executive,” he said.

When asked if it was a failure of law enforcement that the EFCC did not monitor the Ikoyi apartment, Saraki said: “I would rather not comment and prejudge them because they might come before us.

“But clearly, Nigerians must know, to save us this embarrassment. I believe they should come out and tell us who owns the money. I believe an agency like this should monitor and clear this mess.”

Also speaking on the face-off between the executive and the National Assembly, Saraki said he has often explained that the relationship between the two arms of government was cordial, and was far better than it was in 2016.

“What we have now is very cordial. If you look at the confirmation of nominations from the executive, we have cleared over 90 per cent. If you look at the national budget, the process is much better than in 2016. In a few weeks, we will be done with the process.

“I think people just sensationalise situations. The fact that one person’s nomination was rejected does not mean there is controversy between the executive and the House.

“We don’t define democracy based on individuals. We follow processes, and that is exactly what we have done. By virtue of our presidential system of checks and balances, there is bound to be one off frictions. That is what democracy is all about,” he added.