Court issues ICPC orders for final forfeiture of Goodluck Jonathan Estate land in Abuja

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the permanent forfeiture of a multi-billion naira expanse of lands approved for the Goodluck Jonathan Legacy Model Housing Estate to the Federal Government.

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Judge Mohammed Umar granted the request by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

ICPC’s lawyer, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, moved the application, which was not opposed by defence lawyer, Hassan Liman, a Senior Advocate of NIgeria (SAN).

Mr Umar directed the ICPC, on behalf of the federal government, to supervise the construction of the land to completion of the 962 housing units as earlier proposed.

The judge held that the supervision should be done in collaboration with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), the sole respondent in the case, and ensure the utilisation of the housing units by end users.

Mr Umar said, “An order is hereby made for the final forfeiture of Plot No. 5 in Cadastral Zone D12, Kaba District, Abuja measuring approximately 122015.80m2 and valued at N1,944,375,000.00 (one billion, nine hundred forty-four million, three hundred and seventy-five thousand naira.

“An order is hereby made for the final forfeiture of Plot No. 4 in Cadastral Zone D12, Kaba District, Abuja, measuring approximately 157198.30 metre square and valued at N3,340,500,000.00 (three billion, three Hundred Forty Million, five hundred thousand naira), suspected of being proceeds of unlawful activity.

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“An order is hereby made directing the applicant, through the ICPC, to facilitate the hand-over of the forfeited properties to the respondent i.e. Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, being the victim of the alleged unlawful activity.”

Mr Umar, in the ruling delivered on 11 December but which its enrolled order the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) saw on Tuesday, further directed the ICPC and FMBN to set up a committee which membership is to be drawn from both agencies to implement the completion of the project.

Preliminary forfeiture

NAN reports that Mr Umar had, on 9 July granted the anti-corruption commission’s prayer to temporarily take over the lands, after Akponimisingha moved a motion ex- parte to the effect.

Mr Umar held that the interim forfeiture of the multi-billion naira assets approved by the FMBN shall be pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

The land was suspected of being proceeds of an unlawful activity.

It equally sought an order directing the commission to take over and secure the said immoveable property from being converted to personal use or sold off to unsuspecting members of public.

The ICPC further sought an order directing the commission to publish a notice in any national newspaper for interested person(s) to show cause why the assets should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

What investigation revealed

Giving 14 grounds why the application should be granted, the agency said the alleged assets were allocated by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) freely for the construction of 962 residential housing units through the FMBN.

An affidavit sworn by an ICPC’s officer, Iliya Marcus, stat dthat the commission received an intelligence report that the FMBN engaged a private developer to construct 962 of residential housing units under National Housing Fund Scheme.

According to him, the commission in its usual characteristics of proactiveness launched a discreet preliminary investigation activities into the said intelligence report and discovered the following:

The FMBN requested and got approval to commence construction of “Goodluck Jonathan Legacy Model Housing Estate” on 30 July 2012.

Mr Marcus said following the approval, a framework agreement between FMBN and Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited was entered on 27 January 2012.

He said sequel to the said framework agreement, the bank appointed a consultant for the project vide a letter dated 1 February 2012.

He said the appointment of the consultant was to assist monitor the housing project on behalf of the FMBN to report milestone to enable the bank pay the developer of the proposed estate.

He said investigation revealed that FMBN sought and obtained a loan facility of $65 million from Ecobank Limited for the construction of the 962 residential housing units through Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited, a private company for the benefit of low income earners.

He said the tenure of the project was for 18 months.

Mr Marcus said the FMBN through the then managing director paid to Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited the sum of N3.785 billion as drawdown on 22 November 2012.

He said the alleged sum of money was paid as drawdown without evidence of registration with Real Estate Developers Association by Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited as pre-condition for such payment.

“Investigation also revealed that the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria has paid the full project amount of (65 million dollars to Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited without a single house on the project site,” he said.

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He said though the FMBN was established by the federal government to provide affordable housing support for Nigerians, from actionable intelligence available to the commission, the property developer, Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited, was making clandestine moves to sell off the said immovable property to unsuspecting members of the public.

He said if this was done, it would be difficult to recover the plots of land from them.

The officer added that if the application is not granted, “the way the $65 million was dissipated without anything to show for, the land will follow the same way.”

Forfeiture proceedings

Mr Akponimisingha informed the court of the motion ex parte, seeking the interim forfeiture of the two plots of land.

According to the ICPC lawyer, the land in question was part of a massive housing project initiated during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said the project was reportedly awarded to the developer, said to have received $65 million, equivalent to over N14 billion at the time, from FMBN.

The estate, he said, was to be named in honour of the former president.

Mr Akponimosin, however, told the court that no single house had been constructed on the land since the funds were disbursed.

He stated that the property, presently, now worth over N200 billion, and the promoters of the company, including some American nationals, had allegedly fled and remained unreachable.

He explained that though Good Earth Power Nigeria Limited is already facing trial before Justice James Omotosho of a sister court, the forfeiture request was a separate matter aimed at securing the land for the benefit of Nigerians and FMBN.

He urged the court to grant the plea.

In his ruling, Mr Umar granted the interim forfeiture and questioned why the entire project sum was paid upfront without corresponding progress on the ground.

(NAN)