The House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on ‘Federal Government Abandoned Properties’ has ordered that all concessions of federal government properties nationwide be put on hold till further notice.
Similarly, the Committee ordered a halt on the sale of federal government property within and outside the country to allow the committee completes its assignment.
Mr. Ademorin Kuye (APC, Lagos), Chairman of the committee stated this at the second strategic meeting of the Committee on Tuesday at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
He said the order affects the Tafawa Balewa Square property, the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, and a host of others.
According to him, “there are surreptitious moves to sell off some of the property by certain elements in a bid to spanner the efforts of the committee.
He said “as a result of the media coverage the general public has been sensitized on the task before us. The successful recovery of these properties will definitely provide the needed funds to cushion the impact of economic crunch this country is facing at this challenging time of COVID 19 pandemic.
” The die is cast. We are therefore soliciting the cooperation of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies concerned to avail us a comprehensive list of the federal government abandoned properties, be they land, building, aircraft, ships, or goods to enable the Committee discharge its mandate.
In the same vein, we are equally calling corporate organizations and individuals already occupying and making use of these properties to do the needful by liaising with the committee to put necessary machinery in motion to return them to the rightful owner, the federal government.
” We are not oblivious of surreptitious and hurried attempt to dispose of those properties as a way of throwing spanner in the works of this committee,” he said.
Recall that the Committee was constituted on Tuesday, 17 March 2020 with the mandate to investigate the status of such a project, identify the cause of the abandonment and proffer solutions by way of recovery, and probably prosecute after the conclusion.