By Olusegun Olanrewaju
Nigerians have expressed outrage over the seizure of 753 duplexes and apartments in an Estate in Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission allegedly belonging to an unnamed government official.
Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal High Court had on Monday ordered the final forfeiture of the Estate located on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, measuring 150,500 square metres and containing 753 Units of duplexes and other apartments to the state.
The EFCC, in a statement on its X handle, said this haul marked the Commission’s single largest asset recovery since its inception in 2003.
While the anti-graft agency kept its lips sealed on the owner of the seized property, Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist and convener of the # RevolutionNow Movement, claimed that the property belonged to an embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It was canvassed that a major portion of the funds used to fund the Estate could have been proceeding from some touted government intervention programmes, such as the Anchor Borrowers Programme, N-Power, currency swap, and Ways and Means bills.
While some rightly blasted the gargantuan fraud, others expressed reservations about the seizure’s modalities and the role of the undertaking agency, the EFCC.
In a post on his Twitter page, Sowore claimed that the building situated in the FCT, Abuja, belonged to the CBN Governor (name withheld).
The rights activist further maintained that the EFCC only protected the suspect’s name by not mentioning it.
Updating his claim, Sowore said, “I just heard from the grapevine that the 753 duplexes forfeited by an FCT court in Apo belong to… (an ex-presidential candidate’s CBN governor)
In a Facebook post, Joe Igbokwe, a noted chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), also berated the ex-CBN governor over the allegation.
Igbokwe wrote, “Fear and shame have enveloped me. What was on his mind? This one will enter the Guinness Books of Records?”
A netizen on the social media platform X, Ebere Anosike, wrote, “If this were China, this suspect would have faced firing squad for corruption. What is more shocking is the level of impunity and brazenness.”
Another user, Joshua, described the alleged Act of the ex-CBN governor as plain wickedness.
His words, “$30bn fraud! As he borrowed money from the government, he diverted the funds to himself. In his YouTube video, Jude Bela revealed that over $200m approved for COVID-19 relief was siphoned into private accounts linked to an ex-CBN boss.
“Wickedness!” another netizen user screamed.
On his part, Okoli Stephen Izuchukwu carpeted the EFCC to try to protect the culprit’s image.
*EFCC discloses why it concealed ownership identity
However, the EFCC has defended its decision not to reveal the identity of the owner(s) of 753 duplexes seized by the agency, saying it follows legal procedures.
On Monday, the agency said it had seized the duplexes and other properties in an estate in Abuja, the nation’s capital. It did not, however, reveal the owners’ identities, prompting backlash from Nigerians.
Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 election, was among the critics.
However, the EFCC has described the backlash as “tantrums” and “unacceptable.”
“The commentaries of reform-minded Nigerians to the Commission’s painstaking efforts in securing the final forfeiture of the Estate to the Federal Government of Nigeria are appreciated.
“However, the denigration of such efforts by Omowole Sowore and his think-same and act-same is unacceptable and grossly un-charitable,” the agency’s Head of Media & Publicity Dele Oyewale said yesterday in a statement.
It added, “The allegation of cover-up of the identity of the promoters of the Estate stands logic on the head in the sense that the proceedings for the forfeiture of the Estate were in line with Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, which is a civil proceeding that allows for action-in-rem rather than action-in-persona.
“The former allows legal actions against a property and not an individual, especially in an unclaimed property. This Act will enable you to take up a forfeiture proceeding against a chattel who is not a juristic person. This is exactly what the Commission did in respect of the Estate.
“The proceedings that yielded the final forfeiture of the Estate were products of actionable intelligence available to the Commission. The company flagged by our investigations denied ownership of the Estate following publications in leading national newspapers.
“Based on this, the Commission approached the court for an order of final forfeiture, which Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court granted on Monday, December 2, 2024.”
