Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to make public, full list of assets recovered by the federal government from looters before selling them off.
He also asked the President to ensure publication of names of those the assets were recovered from as well as they buyers when they are eventually sold in a statement he released on Wednesday.
Fayose was reacting to recent claim by President Muhammadu Buhari that his administration will sell off all assets recovered from those found guilty of stealing public funds before leaving power.
But the governor accused the President of employing propaganda in the handling of matters concerning the recovered assets by not revealing to Nigerians the whole truth.
He said, “Nigerians want to know how many properties were recovered and who bought the properties, who authorised the sale? Nigerians want details, not propaganda because most of these properties have been sold and resold.”
Speaking further, Fayose referred to statements made by Senator Emmanuel Parker that all property recovered by EFCC has either been re – looted or resold by the anti-graft agency.
He also noted that an official of the Buhari government, Abubakar Malami, who is also the Attorney General of the Federation once disclosed that one of the properties recovered has been sold to a lawyer in Lagos.
He said, “On November 23, 2017, Senator Emmanuel Paulker, the Chairman of the Senate committee investigating the botched reinstatement and promotion of the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pensions, Ibrahim Maina told Nigerians on the floor of the Senate that almost all the exotic properties recovered from alleged looters of Pension Funds had already been re-looted by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Last year November also, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), while testifying before the National Assembly alleged that one of the properties recovered from alleged looters of Pension Funds was already sold to a Lagos lawyer. He added.
Fayose therefore placed a question mark on the integrity of the anti-corruption fight of President Buhari, especially as related to management of seized assets.
He also asked the president to reveal in details activities of EFCC since 2006 claiming Nigerians are entitled to know how the agency has handled funds recovered from looters.
“The federal government should therefore publish and state clearly what has happened in the EFCC between 2006 and now. Nigerians need to know the recovered properties sold by Ibrahim Magu’s predecessor, Ibrahim Lamorde and other previous EFCC chairmen. Those who bought them should be made public too,” said Fayose.
President Buhari had promised to make the list of assets recovered from looters of public resources public. But the presidency only partially released some seized properties, but names of those they were confiscated from were not made public.
