By Hussein J-Isah
Auctioneers who participated in the 2024 assets disposal exercise being carried out by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ,ICPC, have unanimously commended the anti-graft body for the transparency of the initiative.
Forty auctioneers participated in a disposal exercise organized by the ICPC on Thursday last week at the Vommission’s headquarters in the FCT, Abuja.
In a statement made available to The Pinnacle Times on Sunday, spokesperson of the Commission, Demola Bakare disclosed that the balloting exercise for the assets, which was organised by the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Department (POCD) of the Commission saw 26 out of the 40 auctioneers winning various categories of assets disposed by the Commission on behalf of the Federal Government.
He informed that the the assets included plots of land, buildings and vehicles.
Earlier, the Acting Director of POCD, Mr. Michael Agboro, said that “a total of one hundred and nineteen companies submitted an expression of interest. More than half have fallen by the way” for not meeting the desired requirements.
Agboro disclosed to those who made it to the balloting process by saying that, “You are partners with the Commission to ensure that the government gets value for forfeited assets.
“The assets were seized from those who stole from the common heritage. So, you are to sell these assets so that the government can recoup what they stole.”
The statement added that participants were informed about the nature of the balloting exercise and read to them some ground rules before the process began.
The statement also revealed that, “During the balloting exercise, forty envelopes were dropped into a ballot box for participants to pick their ballot and display to the audience and the officials.
“Photos of items won by the successful auctioneers were also displayed alongside.”
According Bakare, at the end of the exercise, a total of 26 assets were won. The assets, which were divided into 20 lots to ballot based on certain criteria, had four moveable assets, six paired assets and 13 stand-alone assets.
He said that the four moveable assets were situated at the Commission’s headquarters while the rest were in the various states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Gombe, Nasarawa, Akwa-Ibom, Ekiti, Kaduna, Sokoto and Rivers States respectively.
Highpoint of the event include signing of a register by the winners to indicate acceptance.
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