Senate urges EFCC, ICPC to try el-Rufai over alleged economic crimes

Mallam Nasir el-Rufai

The Senate Joint Committee that investigated the stewardship last administration in the Federal Capital Territory, has recommended that former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, should be tried by the nation‘s anti-corruption agencies.

The committee made the recommendation in its final report which had been slated for presentation to the Senate in plenary.

The committee recommended that ”the appropriate government agencies should investigate el-Rufai for alleged economic crimes and abuse of office in revoking and reallocating land to his wives and family members even when the land units were on water lines or sewer lines.”

The committee also said that el-Rufai should account for the balance of N32bn accruing from the sales of Federal Government houses in Abuja and all funds collected by the Satellite Towns Development Agency, Abuja Investments and Property Development Company Limited.

According to the committee, ”The houses he obtained for himself where he signed lessor and lessee, be revoked as a person cannot sell an item to himself.”

This recommendation was in addition to an earlier recommendation which declared him as unfit and not a proper person to hold public office.

The former minister was also accused of disobeying court orders served on him and his staff during evictions from government houses and land revocations.

The committee insisted that, ”Mallam el-Rufai revoked 586 plots in one fell-swoop on 23/09/20005.”

Also recommended for investigation by the anti-graft agencies were Umar Abbas who headed the Ad hoc Committee for the sale of government houses in Abuja and Idris Uthman, who allegedly aided El-Rufai in the revocation and illegal reallocation of the plots of land in the FCT.