The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has delivered documents for 324 houses and properties recovered for Kano State pensioners, following a final forfeiture order granted by Justice I.E. Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja. This action by the Abuja Zonal Command of the EFCC comes after successful investigations into an alleged N4.1 billion fraud.
According to Mr. Dele Oyewale, the commission's Head of Media and Publicity, the pensioners had contributed to the Pension Trust Fund to own houses. However, they were denied these houses by two successive administrations in Kano State. The investigation revealed that the state government had entered a tripartite agreement with the Kano State Pension Trust Fund to build housing estates for N41 billion, with the Pension Trust Fund contributing N4.1 billion.
The contribution of the pensioners was used to build houses in three estates located in Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmud Adam Bandirawo City, Sheikh Nasiru Kabara (Amana) City, and Sheikh Khalifa Ishaq Rabiu City, all in Kano State. Two former governors of the state were found to have fraudulently discounted and sold the houses to their cronies and associates, leaving the pension trustees with low budget and uncompleted houses.
In response, the EFCC took action, resulting in the acquisition of a final forfeiture order of the 324 properties to the Kano State Pension Fund Trustees. During the handover of the documents, the EFCC assured that it would continue to work towards eliminating fraudulent practices. Representatives of the Kano State Pension Board expressed their gratitude to the EFCC for assisting them in recovering their houses.
