The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukayode, might have sounded like a broken record last Wednesday when he revealed that many abandoned estates in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, are owned by civil servants. This is a secret available in plain sight. It is not also an exaggeration to conclude that in addition to the abandoned structures swarming the seat of government, a sizable percentage of ongoing building projects in the FCT are being executed with funds looted by corrupt civil servants and politicians.
Although the EFCC boss noted that some of the estates have been abandoned for upward of 10 to 20 years, the dirty practice is as old as the FCT itself, thus reducing the nation’s capital to a real estate cemetery littered with abandoned buildings at different stages of construction.
The EFCC boss who spoke at a “Policy Dialogue on the Critical Issues Affecting Nigeria’s Real Estate Ecosystem,” organised by Law Corridor, gave the assurance that the special task force would kick-start its operation in Abuja and stretch its tentacles beyond Abuja, to where such other abandoned estates are located, insisting that the commission would want to know who owns what. This is a welcome development in the fight against the crime.
Mr. Olukayode insisted that such properties were proceeds of crime, and warned lawyers and real estate developers not to lend themselves as willing tools in the hands of those that engage in money laundering.
While decrying the level of corruption in the public service, Olukayode wondered how a level 17 officer whose salary is not up to N1 million could afford to live in a N500 million mansion. Yet, nobody asks questions but called for a change of mentality, saying “we have to do something about this credit transactional system” for the country to be able to move forward.
On his part, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, stressed the need for a centralised system that would enhance the verification of ownership of properties in the country.
Osigwe equally warned that the arbitrary revocation of land ownership owing to alleged failure to pay ground rent was capable of scaring away foreign investors.
Earlier in his presentation, the Practice Group Lead, Real Estate, Construction and Infrastructure of the Law Corridor, Mr. Ayokunle Erin, disclosed that current estimate placed Nigeria’s housing deficit at between 17 to 20 million housing units, with a required annual delivery of 700,000 units to meet demand.
“Unfortunately, output falls drastically short. In Abuja, for example, only about 5,000 units were constructed in 2024, satisfying less than 10% of the city’s needs.
“These gaps reflect deep-rooted policy failures, regulatory lapses, and legal ambiguities that continue to embolden fraudsters, quacks, and unlicensed agents,” he added.
We make bold to say that this scenario is brought about because it has become difficult to ferry stolen funds overseas as it was the practice back in the day. Today, billions of naira converted to foreign currencies, warehoused in Swiss banks and elsewhere, are lost because the depositors have passed on. And since these civil servants have access to the government till and they are condemned to stealing them, the only safe alternative is to tie such funds down to properties.
For instance, the commission recently secured the takeover and forfeiture of a 753-unit housing estate in Lokogoma, Abuja, to the federal government. The sprawling estate is linked to the former Governor of the Central Bank (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
The former chairman of the commission, Hajia Farida Waziri, perhaps foresaw the future when she advocated that public and civil servants should be subjected to psychiatric evaluation while considering them for public office and regular assessment while in office. The Lokogoma estate stands out as a symbol of monumental fraud ever perpetrated in the country since corruption began to walk on all fours. People who loot this much, much more than they and their families ever need, must be sick in the head.
Without a doubt, the oxygen that gives life to corruption is our inability to put in place a deterrent mechanism to discourage the thieving habit. There was a time when the advocacy for the establishment of special courts headed by retired judges to try corruption cases gained ground during the era of President Goodluck Jonathan but the judiciary frowned on the idea. That was understandable because of the immense benefits such trials generate. Consequently, corruption cases tried by regular courts grind slowly like a vehicle without an accelerator until the trials burn out.
The corrupt elements believe that they could get away with their loots when caught: steal enough to hire as many Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) and take care of the court. This is sad and unhelpful to the fight against the invidious crime that impoverishes the masses.
The war against corruption is not for the EFCC and allied agencies alone to wage. It requires a holistic approach. The whistle-blowing policy should be strengthened to encourage the eagle-eye citizens to volunteer information that will be helpful in the fight.
Olukayode’s disclosure may sound like a broken record.
However, he needs to fix the record so that the music can play on. We think he is on course to achieve that if the relentless resolve of the commission in the anti-graft fight is any guide.