-Deborah Akinyosoye
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has revealed the recovery of an estate in the Lokogoma District of Abuja, measuring 150,500 square metres and containing 753 units of duplexes and other apartments.
The commission described this as its “single largest asset recovery” since its inception in 2003.
The estate rests on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09 of the district, was forfeited in a ruling on Monday, December 2, 20204, by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie, according to a statement issued via the commission’s X handle on Monday.
“The forfeiture of the property to the Federal Government by a former top brass of the government was pursuant to EFCC’s mandate and policy directive of ensuring that the corrupt and fraudulent do not enjoy the proceeds of their unlawful activities,” the statement noted, saying 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 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to push its case.
Justice Onwuegbuzie stated that the said ex-government official had not shown cause as to why he should not lose the property “which has been reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities. The property is hereby finally forfeited to the Federal Government.”
While the anti-graft agency noted that the respondent is under investigation as it alleged that the estate was built with proceeds from fraudulent activities, it said, “The forfeiture of the asset is an important modality of depriving the suspect of the proceeds of the crime.”
According to the statement, the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, has described asset recovery as key in the fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes and “a major disincentive against the corrupt and the fraudulent.”
“If you understand the intricacies involved in financial crimes investigation and prosecution, you will discover that to recover one billion naira is war. So, I told my people that the moment we start an investigation, we must also start asset tracing because asset recovery is pivotal in the anti-corruption fight; and one of the potent instruments that you can deploy as an anti-corruption agency for an effective fight is asset tracing and recovery.
“If you allow the corrupt or those you are investigating to have access to the proceeds of their crime, they will fight you with it. So, one of the ways to weaken them is to deprive them of the proceeds of their crime. So, our modus operandi has changed simultaneously. The moment we begin an investigation, we begin asset tracing. That was what helped us to make our recoveries,” Olukoyede was quoted as saying when he addressed members of the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-corruption recently.
“The recovery of the asset represents a milestone in the annals of operations of the EFCC and infallible proof of the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the anti-corruption war,” added the statement.
