EFCC secures final forfeiture of Abuja estate

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the final forfeiture of an estate located in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

A judge of the FCT High Court, Jude Onwuegbuzie, delivered his verdict in favour of EFCC, yesterday.

According to a statement, Dele Oyewale, spokesperson for the anti-graft agency, the estate, which measures 150,500 square metres and contains 753 units of duplexes and other apartments, is the largest single asset the EFCC has recovered since it was set up in 2003.

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

“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.

“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,” he said.

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