News
Multi-million naira assets rot away as Ministry of Water Resources fails to hold auction
Assets valued at millions of naira are rotting away at various locations across the country after the planned auction of the items by the Ministry of Water Resources failed to hold.
The items, including unserviceable earth-moving machines and other heavy-duty industrial equipment, had been abandoned at various sites by the ministry for several years, where they have been overtaken by weeds.
Many of the machinery are located at the Gurara Dam in Niger State, as well as Upper and Lower Benue in Doma, and across other sites.
Ekwutosblog reports that the ministry had in a publication dated August 20, 2025, signed by Moses Jo-Madugu, Chairman of the Board of Scraps and Unserviceable Items Committee, announced plans to auction the items.
However, it was gathered that the planned auction was stalled due to alleged conflict of interest among senior ministry officials.
Speaking on the development, President of the Nigeria Association of Auctioneers, Musa Kurra, suggested that the ministry is not sincere about the planned auction.
Kurra said the ministry appeared to be playing games, adding that the officials have refused to follow the due process.
‘’Since August 20, 2025 when the ministry published an advertorial about the planned auction of the heavy-duty machinery and other scraps and unserviceable assets, the officials have kept mum. They refused to release further information about the auction.
“First, the advert is defective and vague; it was supposed to invite auctioneers to submit applications for appointment to sell on their behalf, but this was not done. Also, there were supposed to be second and follow-up adverts for the announcement of dates and location of sales to the public, but this was also not done. Everything is done in secrecy.
“Worse still, they are not involving auctioneers who, by law, are legally mandated to supervise the auction processes. What we learnt is that they have been taking some contractors to the sites where the assets have been left abandoned for several years to rot away. This equipment was bought at millions of naira, but, unfortunately, they were abandoned under the sun and rain and allowed to go bad,” Kurra said.
He accused the ministry’s officials of frustrating the Federal Government’s move to recover money from the abandoned assets.
Kurra further insisted that the auctioneers must be carried along in the disposal of the items, as stipulated by law.
“Now that the government can recover some money from these assets, the ministry has been playing hide-and-seek and refusing to provide clear information on the auction exercise.
“This is unacceptable to the Nigeria Association of Auctioneers. We demand that the right thing be done. The ministry of Water Resources must carry us along, provide the necessary guidelines and ensure that the process leading to the auction and the auction itself are transparent and credible. Our objective is for the government to get value from the auction,” he stressed.
Efforts to get the comments of relevant officials of the ministry concerning the stalled auction were not successful on Tuesday.
Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday declined to accept Prince Emmanuel Kanu’s appearance on behalf of his brother, Nnamdi Kanu, ruling that he is not a legal practitioner.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Thursday, swore in General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd) as Minister of Defence at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
General Musa’s appointment follows the resignation of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar on Monday, December 1, 2025. His nomination was announced the following day and transmitted to the Senate, where it received expedited screening and confirmation.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army in 1991 and had a distinguished military career. He was appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023 and retired in October 2025.
As Chief of Defence Staff, he championed inter-service security collaboration.
With his swearing-in, the new Defence Minister is expected to immediately assume duties as the Tinubu administration seeks to consolidate recent security gains and fast-track reforms aimed at achieving lasting peace and stability nationwide.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Sen. Adeniyi Adegbonmire, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Also in attendance were the spouse of the new Minister, Mrs Lilian Oghogho Musa; Chief of Defense Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah; and Justice Kumai Bayang Akaahs (rtd).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said it has appealed the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which ordered the release of twenty-seven houses to James Ibechukwu Okoye and his company.
In the Notice of Appeal filed at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, the Commission expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the trial court, which was delivered on October 31, 2025.
EFCC counsel, Abba Mohammed, SAN, sought two orders from the Court of Appeal, which include; Staying the execution of the judgment of the trial court pending the hearing and determination of the appeal; and such further or other orders as the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.
Meanwhile, the Commission said it felt obliged to correct the distortions and misrepresentations contained in a news story titled “EFCC Invades Abuja Property Despite Court Order Restraining Agency, Awarding N20 million To Jona Brothers”.
It explained in a statement on X that the Abuja property, Plot 680-689 Cadastral Zone B06, Mabushi, Abuja, referenced in the report, is a subject of criminal charge before Justice A.I Kutigi of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court .
However, the EFCC said it sought and secured an order of interim forfeiture of the property before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja pending the determination of the criminal charge before Justice Kutigi.
“In granting the order, the court authorized the EFCC to ‘appoint competent persons/ firm to manage the assets/properties listed in the schedule therein, temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government pending the conclusion of investigation and determination of criminal charges against the suspect,’”
“It is also important to point out that the criminal charge struck out by Justice Osho Adebiyi and the N20m cost she awarded is not in any way connected to the interim order.
“In addition, the enforcement of the interim forfeiture order of the property by the Commission is without prejudice to ongoing appeals on court pronouncements about the true ownership of the property. The appeals are ongoing and the EFCC is diligently attending proceedings.”
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