Marwa orders repeat of bid for property seized by NDLEA

Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), has ordered a repeat of the bid for seized property to accommodate more bidders and ensure greater participation by interested Nigerians.

Marwa gave the order in a statement by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, yesterday in Abuja.

He said the opening of bid for seized property for which final forfeiture has been secured was held at the agency’s headquarters with a single bid for only one out of the five properties placed on sale.

The NDLEA boss, who was represented by the agency’s Secretary, Shadrach Haruna, ordered the cancellation and subsequent repeat of the bidding process as the only single bid failed to meet the requirement.

Marwa said the bidding was the first in the current year, adding that others were being planned to dispose of a series of seized properties located across the country.

The NDLEA boss said the notice for bids had been placed in two national newspapers two weeks ago in compliance with extant regulations on forfeited property.

Speaking at the end of the exercise, the representative of the ICPC, Mr. Adebayo Kayode, hailed the NDLEA for the transparency of the bidding process.

Present at the bidding exercise were the Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch, Mr. Umar Yakubu; and the Director of Proceeds of Crime at ICPC, Adedayo Kayode.

Also, the Director of Asset and Financial Investigation of the Agency, Dr. Ibrahim Abdul, as well as the media and other members of the public were present at the event.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bidding was conducted at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

(NAN)