The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Wednesday, released 14 properties initially forfeited to the Federal Government to Enugu State Government, following the request by the Governor Peter Mbah administration.
The properties were handed over to the Governor Mbah, by the Executive Chairman of EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede, during a brief ceremony at the agency’s corporate headquarters in Abuja
This was even as Governor Mbah assured that the recovered assets would be used to the optimum benefit of the people of Enugu State.
Speaking at the event, Olukoyede, who disclosed that the road to the forfeiture dated back to 2007, said the event spoke of the mutually beneficial relationship existing between the federal government and states.
Commending Dr. Mbah “for the great work he is doing in Enugu State”, the EFCC Chairman said the President was very much interested in the state-of-the-art hospital that the Mbah administration proposed to build in Enugu State, saying the structures for medical facilities among the released assets would go a long way in helping to realise the Mbah vision for the benefit of not just Enugu State, but the entire country and beyond.
What we are witnessing today testifies to a symbiotic relationship that should exist between the federal government and the state governments. The essence of our meeting here today is for us to handover properties that were forfeited to the federal government, which of course belong to Enugu State people, back to the 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 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since then, the EFCC has been managing those properties even though the titles of quite a number of the properties have been revoked by the Enugu State government,” Olukoyede said.
