The Kogi State Government has reacted to an interim forfeiture of 14 properties in Lagos, Abuja and the United Arab Emirates linked to it.
In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Communications in the state, Kingsley Fanwo described the forfeiture order as a joke.
The statement also described the actions of the EFCC against it as part of plots of desperate political interests of the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa and his godfathers.
According to Fanwo, the Kogi State Government has no property that can be forfeited to the Federal Government under any guise and further noted that the EFCC had declared a tactless open war against the Kogi State Government, owing mainly to the Governor’s unflinching loyalty to the All Progressives Congress and not individuals.
The Statement partly read; “Nigerians, and indeed, the international community are not as ignorant as the convicted Bawa and his sponsors. They know, with the different onslaughts against the Kogi State Government, and its officials, that this is clear persecution by a desperate and power drunk EFCC. In due course, Nigerians will confirm that the EFCC, under Bawa, is the capital of corruption amongst agencies in Nigeria,” the state government said.
“Unlike the convicted Bawa, who has no regard for the courts. We want to state clearly here that, from what we have read in the media, not one we witnessed, this is a forfeiture proceeding and the order is an order of interim forfeiture, which gives persons who allegedly own the properties rights to come to court to establish their ownership of the said properties. We will follow through with the courts.
“For now, it is clear the EFCC has declared a tactless open war against the Kogi State Government, owing mainly to the Governor’s unflinching loyalty to the All Progressives Congress and not individuals. We will prove our innocence in court. It is a matter of time.”
The state government thanked Nigerians for standing by what is right and pointing out the mess that had become of the fight against corruption under an “emergency chairman”.
“On this note, we advise the public to ignore Bawa’s EFFC’s latest naked dance in the market square as the desperate last kicks of a dying horse,” the statement said.
Recall that Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court Sitting in Lagos State ordered the interim forfeiture following a motion exparte by the EFCC alleging that the properties were acquired through unlawful means.
