A government white paper on Thursday indicted former Senate President Bukola Saraki, former Kwara governor Abdulfattah Ahmed and others for illegally selling Kwara property.
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had set up a panel to investigate alleged 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.
Mr Buhari said the former governors and many of their aides have questions to answer on how public property and shares were sold under questionable circumstances, including on the eve of their departures from public offices.
He said none of these officials honoured the invitations for them to clear the air on the deals, advising the administration to prosecute them as a matter of justice.
“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.”
Receiving the report, AbdulRazaq said he had noted the recommendations to prosecute all those indicted in the white paper and promised to act on them.
