Kehinde Fajobi
The Edo State Government has given a 72-hour deadline to Asue Ighodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the last election, and other individuals to return government vehicles still in their possession.
The Chairman of the Government Assets Recovery Committee, Kelly Okungbowa, appointed by Governor Monday Okpebholo, issued the ultimatum on Tuesday.
Governor Okpebholo recently set up the committee to recover government assets, including vehicles reportedly still held by private individuals.
Okungbowa, addressing journalists, revealed that some vehicles belonging to the now-defunct Edo Line transport company had been discovered in a spare parts market in Benin City.
He said, “We want to use this medium to appeal to those people whose names have been mentioned, to please return those vehicles to the authorities, because they are not my property.
“Those vehicles are the property of the state government, for the Edo people. And we all know the cost of buying one vehicle.
“To buy a brand new Hilux costs you nothing less than ₦120 million. Where do they expect the governor to get that kind of money to purchase new vehicles?
“We want to appeal to them, especially the candidate of the PDP, Barrister Asue Ighodalo and his running mate. It is good for us to also advise them as a father and leader in the state, that they should do the right thing by returning those vehicles.
“It may interest you that those vehicles that have been recovered—the governor has directed that we should reallocate them to the agencies, and we have done that.”
On the state of Edo Line, Okungbowa explained that Governor Okpebholo had pledged to revamp the company during his campaign, but no vehicles were found on the premises.
“We got some information that those vehicles were taken from the Edo Line and sold. This morning, we got information, and we went to a place called Uwelo Spareparts.
“We discovered about 12 vehicles there. Six were movable, six were not movable. We have the video here.”
He stressed that the committee’s work was not a witch-hunt but a lawful recovery process.
“While we are appealing, the government will also decide on its own. We are not here to witch-hunt anybody. We are doing our job according to the law. It is not that we don’t know where some of them were kept.
“They took some of the vehicles to Lagos, Abuja, and Abeokuta. But we are appealing to them, and follow due process.
“We are giving them another 72 hours to do the needful. If they fail to do it, then, we will do the needful,” he warned.
The committee also listed names of officials from the previous administration allegedly still holding on to state vehicles and urged them to comply with the directive.