753 estate duplexes in Abuja forfeited by the EFCC

A sizable estate in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, was finally forfeited yesterday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The FCT High Court’s Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie issued the order in response to an EFCC forfeiture order.

The 150,500-square-meter estate, which features 753 duplexes and other housing units, is the largest single asset the EFCC has recovered since its founding in 2003, according to a statement made by Dele Oyewale, the anti-graft agency’s spokeswoman.

The individual who forfeited the property was not mentioned, but Oyewale said it belonged to a “former top brass of the government”.

EFCC officials

“The road to the final forfeiture of the property was paved by an interim forfeiture order, secured before the same Judge on November 1, 2024,” he said.

“The government official which fraudulently built the estate is being investigated by the EFCC. The forfeiture of the asset is an important modality of depriving the suspect of the proceeds of the crime.
“In this instance, the Commission relied on Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud And Other Fraud Related Offences Act No 14, 2006 and Section 44 (2) B of the Constitution of the 199 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to push its case.

“The Establishment Act of the Commission places huge emphasis on asset recovery.”
The EFCC spokesperson said the judge held that the respondent did not show cause as to why he should not lose the property.

Oyewale quoted Ola Olukoyede, EFCC’s chair, as saying that asset recovery is “pivotal in the fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes and a major disincentive against the corrupt and the fraudulent”.