Sylva denies reports on 48 houses

Former governor Sylva denied report by the EFCC of 48 houses returned to him– The politician stated that he has only 3 houses in Abuja and threatened to file the suit against the agencyTimipre Sylva, APC leader in Bayelsa stateTimipre Sylva, former governor of Bayelsa state, has criticised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the reports that the commission returned 48 houses seized from him during the Goodluck Jonathan tenure.The Cable reports that the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain describes the report as “strange, speculative and malicious”, saying that he only has three houses in the federal capital territory.Sylva, in a statement signed by his media aide Doifie Buokoribo, threatened to file legal action over the report, and said there was no time the courts confirmed his ownership of such property.“We have read a report in a national newspaper, which was reproduced by a few online publications and in the social media, claiming that Chief Timipre Sylva had ‘retrieved 48 of his properties which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission seized during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.“We view this report with disgust, given its unconcealed speculation and vindictiveness regarding such a sensitive matter.“For the avoidance of doubt, Sylva does not own 48 buildings in Abuja or anywhere in the world. So the issue of reclaiming ‘48 houses’ does not arise. He has only three houses in Abuja, which he built before he became the governor of Bayelsa state.“This point has been made several times before, and neither EFCC nor those who hadused EFCC as a tool of persecution against Sylva during the Goodluck Jonathan administration have contradicted this fact.“EFCC had taken their allegations of property ownership against Sylva to several courts without establishing anything against the former governor during the Jonathan era. Beyond the commission’s routine media prosecution, no court of law has found Sylva guilty of any crime. Indeed, in the course of the trials at the Federal High Court, Abuja, owners of some of the properties wrongfully attributed to him joined to claim their houses. The court ruledon the matter of the said 48 properties since 2013. Why is it now a subject of media attention? Clearly, this is a sponsoredpublication.
He frowns on the malicious audacity of the publishers of such a story, or their sponsors, despite warnings by the courts against media prosecutions and persecutions like this one, and the attemptsby the EFCC to burnish its image that was mindlessly battered during the last administration.“After failing to prove any crime against Sylva in a democratic court of law for the past four years, this latest media show is another desperate attempt to rubbish him politically.“To correct the wrong impression that sponsors of the falsehood against him are, obviously, trying to create, Sylva has instructed his lawyers to take legal action against publishers of the fake story.”The EFCChas returned 48 houses to Timipre Sylva, saying that most of the properties are located mostly in highbrow areas of Abuja such as Wuse II and Maitama.According to the report, the houses were seized during the administration of former president, Goodluck Jonathan in 2013 whileSylva who succeeded Jonathan as governordefined it as a witch-hunt.