The Kano state government is said to be losing about N1 billion annually for lack of auctioning of used items that include electronics, furniture and others which are mostly stolen by individuals.
This was stated by the Secretary of the Nigerian Association of Auctioneers, (NAA), Kano state chapter, Isah Deneji, while speaking to newsmen recently.
He explained that the state government is doing a lot of renovations and reconstructions in the state that have led to the removal of air conditioners, office furniture, roofing sheets, interlocks and other items.
He however said that unlike the usual procedure, the items are not placed for auction as individuals steal them and sell them off.
“I want to call on the Kano state governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to kindly instruct the Finance commissioner to resume auctioning of items declared obsolete by the government.
“He is doing a lot of renovations and construction across ministries and departments as well as other places in the state but the replaced items are left to rotten away or even stolen by some staff.
“We are licensed auctioneers and we renew our licenses annually as professionals, but the government has stopped engaging our services as items worth about N1 billion are lost to theft instead of being sold formally and the state account credited.
“We are from Kano and this opportunity exists in Kano, with all the good work the governor is doing, we can’t go to other states looking for obsolete items to sell.
“Our call to the state governor is to resume the auctioning of obsolete items and not be allowing them to be stolen by individuals or rottening away” he stated.
Rumours have gone round of incidences where individuals have stolen about 20 air conditioners from the renovation of the Government House alone.
Responding on the matter, the commissioner for Works, Marwan Ahmad said he is not aware of the said trend as his ministry is not in-charge of auctioning government property.
He explained that it is the duty of the ministry of finance to set a board of surveyors to inspect obsolete items and declare them for auctioning.
He however lamented an unfortunate behavior of the public in recent times where people rush to take away items including metal rods, wires and others wherever they see government undertaking reconstruction or renovation.
He explained that what his ministry does is to collect those removed items, store them and get them recycled where they are needed in the government offices.
“Just of recent, we collected interlock removed from a particular place worth one million, and kept them here. Another office demanded for them and they were taken there and used, infact they even wanted more than we had” he stated.
As regards the items that are said to be stolen, the commissioner said he is not aware of any incident but will look into it to ensure that those involved and tracked down accordingly.
Items worth hundreds of millions are removed as a result of renovations and reconstructions taking place in the state but are not auctioned in the state as they are left to rot away or stolen by individuals.