EFCC hands over recovered items to Enugu govt, see full list

Items recovered from looters by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been handed over to the Enugu State Government.

The assets include houses, transmission equipment for radio and television stations and a building for medical operations, among others.

Peter Mbah, Enugu State Governor received the properties on behalf of the state at the commission's headquarters in Abuja.

EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede disclosed that the journey to recover the assets began in 2007 when the commission began prosecuting the fraudsters involved.

“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 properties were forfeited and since then, the EFCC has been managing those properties even though the titles of quite a number of the properties have been revoked by the Enugu State government.

“What we are witnessing here today is the official handing over of the properties to the people of Enugu State through His Excellency, Dr Peter Mba,” Mr Olukoyede said.

A statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale did not give further details of the assets.

Olukoyede recalled that the assets were initially forfeited to the federal government after a successful prosecution of the looters.

The identities of the convicted looters were not revealed by the commission.

Therefore, the EFCC chairman said, returning them to the state government spoke to “the mutually beneficial relationship existing between the federal government and states”.

“What we are witnessing today testifies to a symbiotic relationship that should exist between the federal government and the state governments,” he said. “It shows that governance can work in Nigeria. Our people deserve the benefits of good governance and that is what is being evidenced here today.”