Reps order committee to produce reports of assets seized from ex-Nigerian leaders

The House of Representatives on Monday ordered the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on Landed Properties to produce reports of all assets seized from former Nigerian leaders.

Members were more particular about late Gen. Sanni Abacha whose properties and money were recovered by the Federal Government.

Rep. Ademorin Kuye, Chairman ad-hoc committee on abandoned properties said the House wanted a report on all assets seized from Nigerian leaders in and out of Nigeria, particularly Gen. Abacha.

He said this when the Executive Secretary of PIC appeared the committee in Abuja.

“We need to know the state of those properties and to also know if the properties have titles of deed,’’ Kuye said.

The committee also queried the sale of Federal Government’s assets held in trust by the PIC.

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Rep. Kuye said the committee discovered that some of the properties the PIC claimed to have sold were either not sold or were not paid for contrary to claims made by PIC.

He added that some of the seized houses which the PIC claimed were vacant were still being occupied.

He directed the PIC to furnish the House of Representative committee with up-to-date reports of Federal Government’s assets sold, amount realised from the sales, those yet to be sold and those under litigation.

Kuye also asked that the PIC must state the amount of money remitted to the Federal Government from the sales with evidence of remittance, adding that all assets pointed out to the committee but not included in its first report should be forwarded the House of Representatives committee.

Responding to Rep. Kuye’s submissions, Mr Bala Samid, Executive Secretary, PIC, stated that some of the people occupying government quarters had refused to vacate them.

He added that as soon as the occupants were approached for payment or to vacate the houses they went to court to obtain injunctions restraining the PIC.

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“We approached the Federal Government to report them and the Federal Government said that we should give them time.

“We want to generate money for the Federal Government but in the process, we are losing money; somebody is occupying government quarters illegally and he runs to court to get injunctions,’’ Samid lamented.

He said that PIC was happy when the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee came on board, stressing that with its support, it hoped to get debtors to pay.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria and his Federal Radio Cooperation of Nigeria counterpart, appeared before the House over disputed lands belonging to the duo in Lagos and in Abuja. (NAN)