Mr. Ibrahim Tumsah, a civil servant with the Federal Ministry of Power Works and Housing has been ordered to forfeit 86 luxury cars - 23 of which are said to be armoured - four houses, a quarry and eight containers seven of which were described as filled with household items. The order was handed down by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Apo, Abuja. Tumsah is said to be the Director of Finance and Account in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.
The properties were recovered on November 17, 2017, in a warehouse located on the premises of the house at 22 Igbani Street, Jabi, Abuja. Justice Muawiyah Idris of the FCT High Court granted the interim forfeiture orders on December 6, 2017 following an ex parte application filed on November 23, 2017, by the recently constituted Special Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property chaired by the Special Assistant to the President on Prosecutions, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla.
The court, in its ruling, granted the orders authorising the panel “to freeze” all the items listed in the schedule attached to the ex parte motion “pending full investigation on the serious criminal allegations that were brought against the respondents” – Tumsah and brother, Tijjani Tumsah.
But the judge also ordered that the panel’s ongoing investigation must be completed within three months.
He then adjourned until March 6, 2018.
The Obono-Obla-led panel had alleged that Tumsah, from whom the multi-million naira assets were seized, was merely on a monthly salary of less than N500,000, yet acquired all the assets between 2016 and 2017. The panel said both Tumsah and his brother, when invited for interrogation, could not explain or justify their sources of wealth and how they acquired the assets.
Amongst the cars recovered were Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Ford, Maseratti, Chevrolet, Lexus, Toyota, Jaguar and Land Rover.
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