2023: How some politicians in Niger disposing properties to fund elections
By Naseer Mijinyawa, Minna
Ahead of 2023 general election, some immediate past political office holders in Niger State have started disposing off their properties to raise money so as to fund their elections in 2023, IDEAPOSTS findings has revealed.
Among those properties already in the market for sales include landed properties such as shopping plazas, hectres of lands, hotels, filling stations, private schools, vehicles and commercial complexes.
Findings further revealed that some of these properties were aquired through ill-gotten wealths while in the office as from 2015 to date. It was reliably gathered that most of these properties were spread across places like Kaduna and Abuja the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
Our correspondent equally noted that these politicians have started displaying their campaign posters in every nooks and crannies of the state capital and their respective constituencies.
It was further gathered that these public and political office holders recently resigned their appointment in accordance with the directive by the electoral Act as amended by the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC directing all political office holders wishing to contest any position in the 2023 election should resign.
Already, some of them have indicated interest to contest as member of state House of Assembly and House of Representatives come 2023 general elections.
Prominent among them are two commissioners from Eastern and Northern Senatorial Districts of the state, who were among the early persons that tabled their resignation letters to the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane in late March.
According to our source, who pleaded for anonymity,”These people have not visited their community since they were appointed in to office in the last seven years. Only for them to come to inform us that they want to contest for house of assembly and house of representative in 2023 elections and they want us to support them because we are fool.
We are waiting for them to bring out their money. They think they will make fool of us this time again. We are wiser than them Let them sale their properties after all, they got them through ill-gotten, we are ready and waiting to take our shares of the loots”
Efforts by idealposts correspondent to speak to them could not yield the needed result as several calls to their phones were not responded to.
However, a Minna based social critics, Alhaji Ahmed Jibril Ahmed posited that they got the wealth through fraudulent means saying it will not be out of place for them to dispose off those properties as a result of the circumstances in which they aquired the properties while in office. “I’m not surprised.”
“They got the properties in question through dubious means, if they now decided to sale them there, there is nothing new about that because the means they use in getting those properties were not genuinely gotten. So for them to resort in selling those ill-gotten properties is not new to me at all. I know for sure that a day will surely come and is already happening now.” he told idealposts in an interview in Minna.
He said if he even has money, he would have bought those properties from them at a give away price, because it is part of the stole while in office” he concluded.
