Trust Fund’s N8.4 billion Alagbon Towers up for grabs

Twelve years after the Federal Government sold it, the Alagbon Towers in Lagos is about to change hands with the opening of bids for the sale of the property.The property, located at Oba Adeyinka Oyekan Avenue in the affluent Ikoyi suburb, occupies an area of 19,131.600 square metres.The property has a certificate of occupancy of the Federal Ministry of Housing, and was sold to the then Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) in 1982 now Trust Fund Pensions Limited, a pension fund administrator.

Alagbon Towers comprise three high-rise residential blocks on 12 floors consisting of 24 of three bedroom apartments with one room boys’ quarter each. A block of six consisting of three bedroom flats and security house.

Already, investors have been invited to a competitive bidding for the property, said to be worth about N8.422, 663,333.33 billion, in an exercise to be concluded by the end of this month. Messrs Gersh Henshaw and Company, Mamud Momodu and Associates and Sola Badmus ad Company are anchoring the process for the sale of the towers.

The bidding exercise commenced 10 days ago and a winner will be named on Monday June 25, 2018. Those exempted from the process are interested party such as persons and entities exempted from purchasing pension assets under Section 89 of the Pension Reform Act, 2014 or any regulation issued by the National Pension Commission (Pencom).

Among the facilities are water treatment plant, sewage treatment plant building, security gatehouses and transformer/ compressor house and sulphonation building.Bidders are expected to submit five per cent of the bid amount, which must not be below the reserved price. While the successful bidders will be required to pay the 95 per cent balance of the bid price within 90 days of receipt from the approval of sale from the National Pension Commission, failing which five per cent deposit becomes non-refundable.

Sources disclosed that the sales agents are having difficulty getting a buyer for the property due to the Money Laundering Acts that mandates estate surveyors and valuers disclose to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) their transactions involving large sums of money.

The imposing Alagbon Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos were handed over in 2006 to the Executive Director, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), by a former Minister of Housing and Urban Development, in Lagos and a cheque of N2.4 billion was also presented to the Housing and Urban Development Ministry at the occasion.