The determination of the present administration to recover assets belonging to the Federal Government which were either stolen or diverted by politicians and civil servants may not be realised soon following internal squabbles among officials appointed to carry out the task.
Findings showed that some of the members of the investigative panel who were drawn from the Nigeria Police, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and others from ministries and agencies are now returning to their parent agencies because of redundancy.
LEADERSHIP Weekend recalls that the presidency had last year set up a Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property headed by Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, with Akingbolahan Adeniran as secretary.
But it was gathered that the duo, who are also presidential aides, had not been having the best of cooperation for the task at hand.
A source told LEADERSHIP Weekend when our correspondent visited the panel’s office located at the Ministry of Justice, Abuja, that the chairman and the secretary were not treating the very important assignment given to them by the federal government with the seriousness it deserves “Because both of them are politicians.” “You hardly see them in their offices,” the sourced noted, advising that “In making such appointments, if the head is a politician, the secretary should be either a technocrat or a bureaucrat.”
According to the source, the panel was active only within the first three months of its life.
“If not for the work we commenced within three months of inauguration last year, we won’t have done anything as a panel. There are a lot of things this panel needs to do but we don’t sit. As you can see, we don’t know the last time both of them came to this office.”
Another source hinted that the chairman and the secretary might be having a conflict of interest, which was stalling the committee’s work, forcing some members to return to their parent MDAs.
“The mandate of the committee, which is achievable, has not been achieved because the heads seem to be having some squabbles. They hardly collaborate, and as a result of redundancy, some of the members of the committee are now returning to where they were drawn from.”
Source: Leadership
