By Adadareporters
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday handed over 14 property recovered from some corrupt officials to the Enugu State government.
It was learnt that the state had earlier made the request to the federal government. The handing over ceremony was held in Abuja between the chairman of EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede, and Gov Peter Mbah.
Olukoyede said the path to the forfeiture started in 2007, adding that President Bola Tinubu was interested in the state-of-the-arts hospital that the Mbah administration plans to build in Enugu.
The EFCC boss expressed hope that the structures for medical facilities among the released assets would help to realise the Mbah vision for a befitting medical facility in Enugu State.
He said, “This testifies to a symbiotic relationship that should exist between federal and state governments. The essence of our meeting is to hand over the property that were forfeited to the federal government, which of course belong to Enugu State people. It shows that governance can work in Nigeria.
“If you look at the history of this particular matter, it takes us back to 2007 when we started the prosecution. So, we are looking at about 17 years since the matter has been on. Eventually some of the property were forfeited and since then, the EFCC has been managing them even though the titles of quite a number of them have been revoked by the Enugu State government.”
Mbah thanked President Bola Tinubu for making it possible for the assets to be returned to the government and people of Enugu State.
He said, “We do not take this gesture for granted. I want to acknowledge the role played by President Tinubu. Without the speed he acted on our request to cede these assets back to the people and government of Enugu State, we wouldn’t have been here today. Therefore, I want to thank him most sincerely for granting our request for these assets to be ceded back to Enugu State.
“I want to assure us that the property would be used for the benefit of the people of Enugu state. They would be deployed to optimum use for the benefit of the people of Enugu state.”
The property comprise houses, transmission equipment for radio and television stations, a building for medical operations, among others.
