NEWLY-elected Bauchi State governor Mohammed Abubakar has seized 22 vehicles from the wives of the immediate past Governor Isa Yuguda as part of a clampdown of corruption in the state. 

Governor Abubakar, who assumed office on May 29, had vowed to adopt all measures within the ambit of the law to recover all funds allegedly looted from Bauchi State. He said this would include cars and properties illegally distributed by officials of the last administration. 

According to Senator Mohammed Mohammed, the chairman of the Bauchi State Transition Committee, the recovery of the vehicles from the wives of the former governor was in tandem with the mandate of the committee to recover all items confirmed to have been disposed or allocated without due process. Traditionally, when governors leave office in Nigeria, they tend to take all the vehicles assigned to the state with them, considering them spoils of office. 

Senator Mohammed said: “We have so far recovered a total of 22 cars from the wives of the former governor, Isa Yuguda. We recovered 11 cars from his first wife, seven from the second wife and four from the third wife. 

"We have yet to recover the remaining cars from his fourth wife who is currently out of the country. We will ensure that whoever is in possession of government’s properties will be forced to return them." 

He urged public servants and the general public, especially those involved in the disposal and allocation of the properties in question to cooperate with the committee for the effective discharge of its assignment. Governor Abubakar, who is a member of President Muhammadu Buhari's All Progressives Congress, is seeking to take a cue from his party leader and clamp down on corruption.