When a court ordered forfeiture of Enugu people’s properties recovered from former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to the Federal Government, many conscientious Nigerians cried foul.

Justice Mohammed Yinusa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, had on July 8, 2015, ruled that the assets, consisting of 14 properties belonging to four companies recovered from Nnamani – Rainbownet Nigeria Limited, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile Nigeria Limited and Renaissance University Teaching Hospital – should be given to the Federal Government.

Coming at a time that former President Muhammadu Buhari had just assumed office and made hostile pronouncements towards the Easterners because they did not vote for him, it caused quite a stir in the social media, with many Nigerians questioning the rationale for such a judgement.

The situation has, however, changed for the better, as President Bola Tinubu quickly assented to the request by Governor Peter Mbah to transfer the properties to Enugu State, the rightful owners. The handover ceremony at the headquarters of the Commission in Abuja last week is an encouraging development.

We hope that Governor Mbah will be true to his words in ensuring that the recovered assets are put to the maximum benefit of Enugu people. Governor Mbah and his Abia State counterpart, Governor Alex Otti, have shown that good leadership is possible, especially in the South-East which had been uncommonly bedevilled with corrupt and incompetent governors in the past 25 years.

The EFCC under Olanipekun Olukoyede, the first Southerner to head the anti-graft agency, is gradually recovering the confidence of the public. The controversial removal from office of former EFCC’s heads: Farida Waziri, Ibrahim Lamorde, Ibrahim Magu and Abdulrasheed Bawa certainly calls for interrogation.

This role played by the EFCC in the Enugu State asset recovery saga has shown the importance of having a federal body which is capable of salvaging the people’s assets from powerful rogue politicians and restoring them to those they rightfully belong to without attempting to divert them. It is still incumbent on the EFCC to keep its eyes on them and ensure that they are not re-looted.

We urge the EFCC to look into the activities of some of the past leaderships of the anti-graft agency and answer some hanging questions. For instance, what is the truth behind the alleged diversion of huge sums of recovered funds by a former EFCC chairman as alleged by a petitioner, George Uboh? Nigerians also want clarifications on the alleged frauds based on which Magu and Bawa were removed. How did former Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, fare with the management of recovered assets, including the repatriated “Abacha loots”? Nigerians have not forgotten.

We hope Olukoyede will walk his talk and complete his assignment in flying colours.