EFCC hands over recovered Abuja estate of 753 housing units to housing ministry

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has handed over the recovered 753 housing units traced to former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele in Abuja to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the anti-graft agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the estate, spanning 150,500 square metres, located on Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja, was recovered and became the federal government’s property after a court ordered its final forfeiture in December last year.

A statement by the EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, on Tuesday, said the commission’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, formally transferred the property during a brief ceremony at the headquarters of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Developmentin in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr Oyewale said the estate comprises duplexes and other apartment units recovered with the backing of a final forfeiture order given on 2 December 2024 by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

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The court had earlier granted an interim forfeiture order on 1 November 2024.

Speaking during the handover of the keys to Ahmed Dangiwa, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr Olukoyede reaffirmed the EFCC’s commitment to transparent and accountable asset recovery.

He stressed that recovered assets would be repurposed for public benefit.

“This gesture is to demonstrate to Nigerians that whatever proceeds of crime that we have recovered in the course of our work, the application of that will be made transparent to Nigerians so that we will not allow looted assets to be looted again,” he said.

He emphasised that asset recovery is central to EFCC’s anti-corruption strategy.

“One of the key factors that actually propels the impact of the fight is the need for us to ensure that those who have stolen our commonwealth are not allowed to enjoy the proceeds of crime.

“So one of the critical factors of our works is that we deprive them of the proceeds of crimes,” he added.

Mr Olukoyede commended President Bola Tinubu’s stance on anti-corruption. He described the handover as a sign of the administration’s resolve to combat financial crimes.

Ministry to sell housing units

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday confirmed taking delivery of the 753-unit housing estate from the EFCC.

A statement by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Salisu Haiba, said the property was handed over by EFCC at the ministry’s headquarters in Mabushi, Abuja.

“The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has taken delivery of the 753 Housing Units Abuja housing estate of former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,” the statement said.

Receiving the keys to the estate, the minister, Mr Dangiwa, praised the EFCC for what he called a “significant milestone” in the collective effort to fight corruption.

The minister said both the ministry and the EFCC would conduct a joint familiarisation tour of the estate to assess the current state of the estate.

“We intend to carry out thorough integrity and structural assessments on all buildings and associated infrastructure to confirm their safety and suitability for habitation,” he told the gathering.

Mr Dangiwa added, “The Ministry will offer the units for sale both to the public and for special government needs. For the public sale component, we will adopt a transparent and competitive process. This will include nationwide advertisement and the use of the Renewed Hope Portal where interested Nigerians can submit their Expressions of Interest.”

He said the effort is to “ensure that recovered assets are put to productive use in ways that directly benefit the Nigerian people.

He added that the ministry would carry out a joint inspection of the estate with the EFCC to assess its structural condition.

“This marks a significant milestone in our collective determination to ensure that recovered assets are put to productive use in ways that directly benefit the Nigerian people. The housing estate recovered from the former Governor of the Central Bank is a case in point,” Mr Dangiwa said.

Background

The estate represents the EFCC’s largest single-asset recovery since its establishment in 2003.

Mr Oyewale had explained that the estate was recovered from an unnamed former senior government official suspected of building it with illicit funds. But court filings submitted in the forfeiture proceedings traced the assets to Mr Emefiele. The former CBN governor is facing multiple corruption charges that rose from his time in office.

The EFCC said the forfeiture followed the suspect’s failure to convince the court that the property was acquired lawfully.

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A trial judge at the Federal High Court Jude Onwuegbuzie ruled that the estate had been “reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.”

EFCC described the development as a milestone and cited its mandate under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and Section 44(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution to ensure that individuals do not benefit from the proceeds of corruption.

According to the Commission, it followed due process in obtaining the final forfeiture order, in line with Part 2, Section 7 of the EFCC Establishment Act.

That section empowers the agency to investigate individuals whose properties and lifestyle appear disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Mr Olukoyede has repeatedly emphasised the importance of asset recovery in the anti-corruption fight, describing it as a “potent instrument” against the corrupt.

“If you allow those under investigation to access the proceeds of their crime, they will use it to fight back,” he recently told lawmakers on the House Committee on Anti-Corruption.