Ex-Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, has stated that the claim of forfeiture of 14 properties by the Economic and Financial Crimes, Commission, EFCC is not true.
According to former Minister, he said he didn’t steal any money while in office as Minister of FCT, and as such he didn’t return or refund any monies to the Federal Government.
In a statement signed the former Senator’s Media aide Emma Agu he said the so-called temporary forfeiture order amounts to unduly sensationalizing a matter that is yet to run its full judicial course.
“To start with, how many times will the former minister forfeit exactly the same properties? It is a well-known fact that between his arraignment which was widely reported and today, the matter is yet to run its full course. Therefore, the issue of forfeiture cannot arise in a matter that is being diligently prosecuted and rigorously contested or defended,” the statement reads.
Adding further he said, most of the houses in contention do not belong to Senator Bala Mohammed.
“Yet, it is misleading to suggest that their owners do not exist. In at least one instance, the property has been returned to the rightful owner while others have initiated steps to recover their properties that were wrongly seized by the EFCC”
“Besides, it is also important to challenge and debunk the unsustainable impression being created that Senator Bala Mohammed does not have the right to acquire and/or own property anywhere in Nigeria. To make heavy weather of his ownership of some houses is mischievous and completely untenable”
“This one will fail just as the rumour that he had refunded some money to the Federal Government is as fallacious as it is condemnable.
“Senator Bala Mohammed avows solemnly that he never stole any money while he was a minister and therefore has not returned or refunded any monies to the Federal Government. He challenges anybody with evidence of such a refund to come forward with it or let his adversaries shut their mouths henceforth,”
Mohammed said he is aware that the trial against him is because of his desire to contest for the governorship position in his state Bauchi state in the 2019 governorship election as he added that no degree of persecution, blackmail or witch-hunt can clean up his achievements as FCT minister.
The former FCT Minister also stated that there has been a movement of misrepresentation which is seen in form of intentional lies, distortions and media persecutions against him based on accusations which he said are not true or have not even been established by any competent court of jurisdiction.
