The Sokoto State Committee for the Review of Wasteful and Unnecessary Government Assets said on Thursday that appointees of the immediate past governor, Aminu Tambuwal, went away with no fewer than 745 government vehicles.
The committee said it was able to recover only 32 of the vehicles, adding that 40 of them had been taken to Niger Republic.
The committee’s chairman, Alhaji Jelani Kalgo, presented the report of its findings to Governor Ahmed Aliyu on Thursday.
Kalgo said the committee also discovered a government property sold for N60m but only N30m was remitted.
He said, “Three hundred and two vehicles were in the possession of former commissioners, special advisers and chief executives while 443 were under the possession of local government areas.
“The committee discovered that about 40 vehicles were released on hire to private individuals and were taken beyond the boundaries of the local government areas; some beyond the boundary of the state and some beyond the boundary of Nigeria to as far as Niger Republic.
“The vehicles include six graders, six payloaders, three rollers, nine tippers, four water tankers and two fire service tankers, among others. This is very disturbing.
“We have so far retrieved 32 vehicles from former government officials, including commissioners, special advisers and chief executives of ministries, departments and agencies.
“We went round all the 23 local government areas and found out that, 70 per cent of the 443 vehicles there were grounded
“Your Excellency, some of these vehicles were found hidden in far places at the state metropolis.’’
Kalgo said the committee would have recovered more vehicles but for shortage of funds.
Governor Aliyu thanked the committee and assured them the government would study their report and take the necessary actions.
Efforts to get the reaction of the immediate Commissioner for Information, Akibu Dalhatu, were unsuccessful as he could not be reached on the phone on Thursday evening.
Also, calls made to the ex-governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Mohammed Bello, were not answered. He had also yet to reply to a text message sent to his mobile line as of press time.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
