Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara has said that more than 90 property built with public funds were unlawfully appropriated by some officials of the past administration.
The governor made this known on Sunday in Ilorin while naming a 15-member committee to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the Kwara State Social Assessment Vulnerable Indicator (KW-SAVI).
AbdulRazaq condemned the illegal acquisition of government property, saying that the development underpinned the impunity with which the state was almost run aground.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee is chaired by a former Chief Judge of the state, Justice Raliat Elelu, with Shuaib AbdulGaniyu, an assistant director in the Governor’s Office, as Secretary.
The governor said that the damning revelations on illegal sales of government property came from the report of the Sen. Sulaiman Ajadi Committee, which he had set up to probe the handling of public assets since 1999.
He lamented how the development had stripped Kwara of necessary accommodation to host dignitaries officially visiting the state.
“The Sen. Ajadi committee did a very good job. It submitted two reports and we are waiting for the final report.
“It is unfortunate that from my little reading of it so far, people just shared government property as if they were their fiefdom. They did not even think, for one second, that they were government property,” he added.
The governor said that the Elelu committee would look into environmental issues such as unlawful dumping of waste and other violations which had hindered public planning and endangered public health.
“If you drive through our major roads, you will see rubbish all over the places. But give us time, all these will be a thing of the past,” he said.