FORMER Governor, Bukola Saraki, has kicked against a government white paper which ndicted him, successor Abdulfattah Ahmed and others for illegally selling state property.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had set up a panel to investigate aalled unlawful sales of the state government property from May 29, 1999, to May 29, 2019.
A statement by the chief press secretary to the governor Rafiu Ajakaye quoted the chairman of the panel of inquiry, Hussein Buhari, as saying this while submitting the white paper to the governor at the Government House in Ilorin.
The panel set up by AbdulRazaq also recommended that Saraki, Ahmed and others should be prosecuted for alleged economic sabotage.
He said that findings in the report were mind-boggling and said nothing short of diligent prosecution, possible jail terms and recovery of many of the property can avenge the official connivances that led to the pilferage of the assets.
“There are so many instances where those in government before used their positions to acquire government properties in questionable circumstances,” said Buhari.
“For instance, the High Court Complex in Tanke, Ilorin, they removed all the steels and allocated the land to themselves, they built hotels and eateries on government properties.
“All our houses in Kaduna have been sold. Today, apart from our liaison office, we do not have anything in Kaduna.
“Government should take them to court and prosecute them for economic sabotage and, if found guilty, the government should ban them from holding political offices for 10 years.
“Also, some ministries, Bureau of Lands, Surveying Office and many other offices had shady deals with our land in Kwara State.
“So, anyone involved should be sanctioned and prosecuted according to the civil service rules.”
But reacting to the issue, Saraki, who spoke through Abdulqadir Abdulganiyu, Press Officer, Local Matters, yesterday described the allegation as false and diversionary.
Abdulganiyu said it “shows how low governance has become in Kwara State”.
He said: “First, for the information of discerning members of the public, neither Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki who left the Office of Governor of Kwara State ten years ago nor Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed, the immediate past governor got an invite to appear before any investigative and fact-finding panel set up by the Abdulrazaq administration.
“Thus, it is clear that the so-called investigation being conducted is not about finding facts. It is about throwing mud and staining the predecessor of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq in office.
“Both Dr. Saraki and Alhaji Ahmed will never be shy of giving account of how they managed the assets of Kwara State. In fact, both men took decisions concerning those assets in a manner that will enhance their value and stimulate economic activities in the state, which was hitherto referred to as a civil service state.”
