Jonathan’s Men Secretly Returning FG Property

Rattled by the directive handed down by President
Muhammadu Buhari that they should return all
government property in their possession,
government officials who served under former
President Goodluck Jonathan have started
returning some of the assets they took away as
they left office.
LEADERSHIP checks revealed that by yesterday
some former top government officials were secretly
returning government property, including vehicles,
generator sets and furniture to the ministries,
agencies and even some departments in Aso Rock
where they were taken from.
Those whose families are still occupying
government buildings are said to have started
asking them to quickly vacate the place on the
pretext that they were staying there without their
knowledge, after they had left for their respective
states or travelled abroad.
A top presidency official told our correspondent
that, since yesterday, some of the past government
officials, including former President Goodluck
Jonathan’s men, had been calling to explain
themselves, insisting that some of the property
were taken either by their family members or close
aides without their consent.
The presidency official, who preferred not to be
named in print since his was not the spokesperson
of the presidency, noted, however, that despite the
last-minute effort being made by this former
officials to save their head from the ongoing probe
directed by the president, they would still be made
to explain their actions which amount to nothing
but sharp practices.
He said, “Throughout today (yesterday), we have
been receiving calls from some of the former aides
and officials of government who claim that
whatever was still in their possession were taken
and were being kept either by their families
members or personal assistants.
“Some even claim that they were aware that their
family members were still living in government
buildings while they were away in their
hometowns, or abroad where they are on vacation.
But their explanations amount to nothing but
medicine after death. Whether they return the
property or not, they must face the law because
what the president is angry about is the action
itself.”
Asked whether the committee set up to go after
the culprits had identified them, he said, “We have
the names of most of them on ground already.
What the committee is doing at the moment is to
ascertain whether due process was followed before
they took the property as their personal
possessions.
“Once discovered that they did not buy them in
line with the monetization process initiated by
former President Olusegun Obasanjo, they will still
be prosecuted.”
President Buhari was said to have set up a
committee consisting of security agents and civil
servants to identify and recover public assets still
with former political appointees.
Confirming the development on Sunday, senior
special assistant to the president on media and
publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, had explained that
the aim was not to embarrass anyone but to
recover government assets
“That is precisely the case. Even here at the
Presidential Villa, there are cars and other property
belonging to the government which are yet to be
returned. The property belong to the Nigerian
people. We are not trying to humiliate anyone by
asking them to return their cars or houses,” he
said.
Noting that he was not in a position to tell whether
the state and local governments were facing
similar challenges with retrieving government
property from their predecessors, the presidential
spokesman added, however, he would not be
surprised if that was the case.
According to him, this attitude of holding on to
government property even after leaving office must
be a natural outcome of the culture of impunity
entrenched in the country by the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) administration.
“But change has come. That is why we have to do
things differently now”, Shehu said.
He reiterated President Buhari’s commitment to
running an austere government that will save the
Nigerian people wastage of public funds.
“Imagine how much Nigeria will save by retrieving
and reusing these government property instead of
purchasing new ones for new government
officials,” he said.


[Leadership]