The White Paper Implementation Committee for the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Activities of Kogi State Government between May 2003 and January 2016 has met with its lawyers in Abuja.
The committee for the recovery of looted properties of Kogi State yesterday informed journalists that it came to Abuja to identify various construction projects embarked upon by previous governments and to review the progress of its findings with lawyers.
The chairman of the implementation committee, retired Major General Mobolaji Koleosho, said he took up the assignment because of the passion of Governor Yahaya Bello to correct the wrongs of the past without violating human rights of the people.
He said tens of billions of naira have been traced to be misappropriated by previous public officials. He said the committee was set up after the findings of the judicial inquiry headed by retired Justice Wada Abubakar Umar, adding that it has the mandate not to prosecute any indicted official, who willingly returned fund to the state’s coffers.
In his remark, counsel to the committee, Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN) described the modus operandi adopted by Kogi State for the recovery of stolen funds as a model for the country. He said he was willingly to do whatever was legally required to recover funds due to the state.
The Attorney General of the state, Mohammed Sani Ibrahim, said the state government will not interfere with the work of the committee. He however criticised the attitude of some former governors of the state, such as Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada for refusing to honour the invitations of the committee.
Credit: Daily Trust
