The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has obtained the final forfeiture of 324 properties that were allegedly connected to the pension fraud in Kano state.
In a statement released by the EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, on Wednesday, May 03, 2023, it was revealed that the forfeiture was granted by Inyang Ekwo, a federal high court judge in Abuja.
The EFCC had sought the final forfeiture of the properties which they believed were "reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities of Kano state pension fund trustees".
The properties in question included 168 homes located at Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmud Adam Bandirawo City in Kano, 122 houses at Sheikh Nasiru Kabara (Amana City), Kano, and 38 houses at Sheikh Khalifa Ishaq Rabiu City, Kano.
Background
In 2015, some workers and pensioners in Kano wrote a petition to the EFCC and accused Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of the state, of mismanaging pension remittances contributed between 2011 and 2015.
According to the allegations, Kwankwaso used pension remittances through the Kano state pension fund trustees to construct houses for pensioners.
In October 2021, the EFCC interrogated Kwankwaso in connection with the petition.
Kwankwaso served as the governor of Kano from 2003 to 2015 and spent a second term in office from 2011 to 2015.