Presidential panel recovers 19 vehicles from ex-govt officials

The Special Presidential Panel for the Recovery of Public Property in Abuja on Friday handed over 19 official vehicles it recently recovered for the National Population Commission ( NPopC ) .The vehicles were retrieved from former commissioners of the NPopC who allegedly made away with them after their tenures in office .

The Chairman of the panel , Mr Okoi Obono – Obla , handed over the vehicles to officials of the commission at a brief ceremony .

Obono – Obla said the recovery followed a tip- off by a member of staff of the commission to the panel in March .

He noted that the commissioners were not supposed to leave with the official property having benefited from the government’ s monetisation policy.

“ But because Nigeria was a very corrupt country until the coming into power of President Muhammadu Buhari , they went home with those vehicles .

“ If it were the Nigeria before May 28 , 2015 , they would have got away with it , thereby denying Nigerians their use .

“ The vehicles were meant for operations of the National Population Commission, but some very unpatriotic public servants took them home .

“ So , we swiftly commenced the investigation and recovered the vehicles from all the previous commissioners of the NPopC ” , he said .

The panel chairman said that should be a warning to all other public servants , including himself , to desist from converting official property to personal use .

While noting that all public property belonged to the government and people of Nigeria , he said the Buhari government would not tolerate such acts .

“ I commend that very patriotic staff of NPopC who gave us this information , and I urge Nigerians to take advantage of the whistleblower initiative of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“ I call on all other patriotic Nigerians to give us information about those who have taken government property home .

“ And I can assure them we will recover whatever has been taken away by unpatriotic public servants and other people , ” Obono – Obla said .

Responding, the Director of Census in NPopC , Mr Liman Baba , who received the vehicles on behalf of the Chairman , Mr Eze Duruiheoma , commended the panel for its “ good job ” .

Baba said the recovery would go a long way in easing the challenges of logistics facing the commission .

( NAN )

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