In a statement on Tuesday by his Media Assistant, Mr. Paul Mumeh, Mark described the allegations as “spurious, contrived and baseless.”
According to Mark, the property was duly offered for sale, bided for and purchased in line with the Federal Government’s monetisation policy, which was started during former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
He said, “I had the right of first refusal. Even if I did not purchase it, someone else would have. I am a law-abiding citizen. I did not flout any law. Curiously, four houses occupied by the then presiding officers of the National Assembly were offered to the occupants.
“ All of us – I, as the then President of the Senate; the Deputy Senate President , Ike Ekweremadu; the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole; and his deputy, Bayero Nafada – were given the same offer. I am at a loss as to why it is now a subject of contention.
“If this persecution is about politics, my political party and the 2019 elections, I dare say that only God and Nigerians would decide. No amount of persecution would alter the will of God.
“I had refrained from commenting on this because it is already in court. But they have taken the matter to the court of public opinion.”
The Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property had accused Mark of illegally acquiring his then official residence as his private property, and gave him a 21-day notice to quit the mansion.
The quit notice ordered Mark to state why the Federal Government should not ”enforce the recovery of the property for public good.”
But Mark had filed a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja to quash all steps taken by the panel to evict him and recover the house from him.
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