Victor EzejaFormer lawmaker and human rights activist, Senator Shehu Sani, has commended the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, for the transparency demonstrated by the anticorruption agency in the recovery and handover of 753 housing units in Abuja to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The housing estate, spanning 150,500 square metres, located on Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja, was traced to former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIt was recovered and became property of the Federal Government after the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered its final forfeiture on 2 December 2024.
A statement by the EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, on Tuesday, said the EFCC Chairman formally transferred the property during a brief ceremony at the headquarters of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in Abuja on Tuesday.
Sani, a former Senator representing Kaduna Central district, said Olukoyede’s handover of the housing units is the most “unprecedented transparent process” in Nigeria’s anti-corruption history.
According to him, if it were to be in the past, it would have been secretly auctioned to proxies in a very shoddy manner.
“The Ola Olukoyede handover of the 753 housing units seized from the ex-CBN Boss to the Federal Housing Authority is one of the most unprecedented transparent process that has happened in Nigeria’s anticorruption history.
“In the past, it would just have been dubiously auctioned to proxies,” Sani stated via his X handle.
Prime Business Africa reports that EFCC chairman had, during the official handover of the housing units to the Housing Ministry, stated that whatever assets that are recovered will be made transparent and ensure that they are deployed for public benefits and not re-looted.
While emphasising that asset recovery is central to EFCC’s work, Olukoyede stated that the anti-graft agency fights to ensure that people who steal the commonwealth are not allowed to enjoy the proceeds.
“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,” the EFCC chairman stated.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
