The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission has recovered official vehicles from commissioners who voluntarily resigned from the state executive council.
The recovery exercise, carried out by operatives of the commission on Thursday, followed the alleged continued refusal of the affected commissioners to return the government property.
The concerned persons are Air Vice Marshal Ibrahim Umar (retd), former Commissioner for Internal Security; Mustapha Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Commissioner for Youth and Sports; Dr. Yusuf Ibrahim Kofar Mata, former Commissioner for Science and Technology; Dr. Adamu Aliyu Kibiya, former Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs; and Hon. Nasiru Sani Garo, former Commissioner for Special Projects.
Briefing journalists shortly after the recovery exercise, the Chairman of the Commission, Sa’idu Yahaya, who led the operation, said the action became necessary after the former commissioners failed to comply with repeated official requests to return government assets.
Yahaya disclosed that the operation was prompted by formal complaints and notification from the Office of the Secretary to the Kano State Government, being the custodian of all government vehicles, regarding alleged abuse of office and the urgent need for the former officials to return all government property in their possession upon resignation.
The chairman further alleged that some of the commissioners said to have sold the official vehicles shortly after leaving office.
“Government assets are not personal property. Once an official leaves office, all government vehicles and assets in their custody must be returned immediately.
“They were advised to return the vehicles to avoid a situation like this, but they refused, leaving us with no alternative but to take action. We followed due process and secured a court order, which was duly granted, to recover the vehicles.”
He added, “So far, we have recovered five vehicles from the five commissioners. However, only two of the vehicles recovered are the exact official vehicles purchased by the government. The other three are not the original vehicles.
“Investigation revealed that the official vehicles had been sold and replaced with other vehicles, which we also recovered. We will launch a full scale investigation to determine whether the official vehicles were sold to procure these ones or otherwise,” Yahaya said.
The anti-corruption boss dismissed suggestions that the action was politically motivated, insisting that the commission’s intervention was strictly in line with its statutory responsibility to safeguard public property.
“This is not about witch-hunting anyone. It is about protecting the resources of the people of Kano State. We will not tolerate any form of misconduct or unlawful retention of government property,” he said.
He further warned that the commission would sustain surveillance on the use and custody of public assets, stressing that similar measures would be taken against any official found to be in breach of asset return regulations.
“Public trust depends on transparency and accountability. We are determined to strengthen both, and we will take appropriate action against anyone found mismanaging or unlawfully holding government property,” Yahaya added.
Meanwhile, a retired senior civil servant, Mohammad Tukur, clarified the administrative position on the matter, stating that no existing law permits a commissioner to retain an official vehicle after serving in the cabinet.
Tukur explained that government policy provides official vehicles to commissioners solely to enable them carry out their official duties.
“No law guarantees commissioners the right to keep government vehicles at the end of a successful tenure, whether they are sacked or resign from office,” he said.
He, however, noted that the governor reserves the executive power and discretion to permit any official to retain a vehicle after leaving office.
“Under administrative policy, what commissioners are entitled to upon leaving office are certain allowances, not official vehicles. Even then, any commissioner who is sacked or resigns from the cabinet may not be entitled to those severance packages,” Tukur explained.
