The Bauchi State Government Funds and Assets Recovery Committee has alleged that the immediate past governor, Mohammed Abubakar, sold to himself seven luxury government vehicles for N19,877,275 shortly before leaving the office.
The state governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, had inaugurated the committee on July 12, 2019, with the mandate to recover all government funds and assets carted away by officials of the former administration.
Speaking at a press conference at the VIP 9 in Bauchi, the Public Relations Officer 1 of the committee, Alhaji Umar Ningi, flanked by other members, said the committee operated within the ambit of the laws of the federation and other enabling laws enacted by the state House of Assembly in the discharge of its duties.
Ningi alleged that of the seven luxury cars the governor sold to himself, one of them, a Landcruiser Armoured Jeep worth N150m, with chassis number JTMHX09J9F4089580, was auctioned at the cost of N7.8m.
Ningi added that officials of the last administration carted away 30 exotic cars when they left office, adding that the committee recovered 15 of the vehicles while the remaining were being traced.
According to Ningi, the committee also discovered that the former governor initiated a transaction and sold to himself a house with a Certificate of Occupancy No. BA/40245, located adjacent to Wikki Hotel, belonging to Bauchi State Government, at a highly subsidised rate.
In a media statement to journalists via WhatsApp on Friday, the former Special Adviser to Abubakar, Ali M. Ali, however justified the actions of his boss, saying it was lawful for any government official to purchase any vehicle that had been used for more than three years.
