Gusau – The Federal High Court in Gusau has ordered the Zamfara Government to return vehicles that were slated for public auction by the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the vehicles were evacuated from the court premises to the Government House in the past three weeks.
However, the Registrar of the court, Mr Bisala Sabo, told newsmen on Friday in Gusau that more than 30 vehicles have now been returned to the Kotonon Shehi court premises where they were earlier removed.
The vehicles were part of movable state government assets that the court slated for auction to recover a loan of over N500 million that the government failed to repay to AMCON.
Following the orders of the court, some vehicles were earlier auctioned in the first phase on Feb. 23.
The second phase of the public auction however turned out to be a shocker for prospective bidders who turned up in their large numbers.
They included actioners from neighbouring states of Kano, Sokoto and Katsina who discovered that many of the vehicles they bid for had disappeared from the auction venue.
Explaining the disappearance of the vehicles to journalists, the court registrar said he was alerted on the development at about 4 a.m by the court security guard.
According to the registrar, the vehicles were driven into the Government House opposite the court.
The registrar said he immediately reported to the court’s presiding Judge, Justice Fadima Murtala, and the police, which led to the deployment of armed mobile policemen to the venue to stop further attempt to take away the vehicles.
He assured that the vehicles had been returned for the auction.
