The Federal Government has commenced the process for the valuation of property belonging to several politically exposed persons, including the embattled former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Diezani property located in highbrow Banana Island Foreshore Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, include eighteen flats and six penthouses located at Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista, Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout.
According to Punch, other listed property include those belonging to the late Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, whose houses in the Wuse 2 and Maitama high-end neighbourhoods of Abuja were seized.
They include No. 14 Adzope Crescent, off Kumasi Crescent; 19 Kumasi Crescent, Wuse 2; and 6 Umme Street, Wuse 2.
Other recovered items listed are; 125 pieces of wedding gowns, thirteen pieces of small gowns, forty-one pieces of waist trainers, seventy-three pieces of hard flower, eleven pieces of suit, eleven pieces of invisible bra, seventy-three pieces of veils, thirty pieces of braziers, two pieces of standing fan, seventeen pieces of magic skits, six packets of blankets, one table blanket and sixty-four pairs of shoes.
The Federal Government had earlier last week commenced the process of screening six hundred and thirteen independent valuers expected to manage the sale of the assets alleged to have been illegally acquired which have been permanently forfeited to it in about twenty-five locations across the country.
The total number of property marked for auction across the country is one thousand six hundred and twenty including cars, houses, phones, laptops, vessels and other valuables.
Lagos has the highest number of property that will be auctioned, including thirty one houses and five hundred and eighty-nine vehicles.
At the expiration of the deadline, two hundred and eighty four firms submitted bids for the valuation of landed property, including residential, commercial, institutional and underdeveloped plots of land slated for disposal.
The Chairman, Inter-ministerial Committee on the Disposal of Forfeited Assets, Mohammed Etsu, said two hundred and twenty nine proposals were received for the valuation of plants, machinery, motor vehicles, furniture and equipment.
Seventy five companies submitted bids for the valuation of water vessels for disposal, while twenty five companies presented bids for the valuation of jewellery, ornaments and clothing materials for disposal.
Etsu, who is also the Solicitor-General of the Federation, stated that the committee would ensure a harmonised and transparent process to safeguard the recovered assets by the relevant agencies.
The solicitor-general disclosed that the sub-committee on valuation and due process had earlier conducted the technical evaluation of the bids received from interested valuers, adding that only clothing materials were available for valuation at the moment.
Etsu noted that pieces of jewellery were still subjects of litigation and therefore were not part of the process for now, reminding the successful valuers of the need to be thorough.
Diezani, who was minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan, has been in the United Kingdom since 2015 and has refused to return to Nigeria ever since.
The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa,stated before the House of Representatives in May that jewellery worth N14billion were seized from Diezani.
