How EFCC recovered N55m cash, houses worth N18.8m in Gombe

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has laid claims to recovery of N55.6 million in cash and houses worth N18.8 million in Gombe State.

EFCC Zonal Head, Michael Wetkas, at a media briefing listing the success of the commission in the first quarter of 2019, disclosed that the Commission received 81 petitions out of which it secured 37 convictions.

Wetkas had narrated: “Houses valued at N18.8 million were forfeited as well as two vehicles whose values are yet to be ascertained.

 “The Acting Chairman of the Commission, Ibrahim Magu, in his rigorous enlightenment efforts to educate voters, introduced a very good idea of election –monitoring because of what happened with the 2015 general elections, where a lot of INEC staff were convicted, while some are still undergoing trial after their suspension.

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“In Gombe, eight people were arrested during the 2019 general election, including a local government chairman and two councilors. One of the councilors was convicted.”

Wetkas was said to have noted that debt recovery is not a mandate of the Commission but the enforcement of economic and financial crimes laws, with the intent to discourage the public from committing offences along such lines.

“The general public should desist from withdrawing their petition against a person or entity when they realise that their money has fully been recovered. The Commission cannot tolerate this,” he had said.