Olajengbesi urges FG to hand over forfeited duplexes to homeless doctors

Abuja-based human rights lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, has applauded the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for securing a landmark forfeiture of 753 duplexes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

In a statement on Monday, Olajengbesi, of the Abuja-based law firm, Law Corridor, described the feat recorded by EFCC Chair, Ola Olukoyede, and the anti-graft agency’s prosecuting team, led by Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), as a milestone in asset recovery.

He urged the Federal Government to hand over the forfeited properties to deserving doctors and civil servants as part of a mass housing scheme.

“This is a boost for the fight against corruption and asset recovery, which is a fulcrum for Nigeria’s anti-graft war. The intelligence gathering and diligent prosecution by the EFCC team is most admirable. This successful final forfeiture sends a message to corrupt politicians and their cronies diverting public funds to amass wealth for themselves,” Olajengbesi said.

“The EFCC should not auction off the forfeited properties but complete them and hand them over to doctors and other deserving civil servants to encourage them in their service to humanity.”
The commission described the recovery of the estate in the Lokogoma District of Abuja, measuring 150,500 square metres and containing 753 units of duplexes and other apartments, as its “single largest asset recovery” since its inception in 2003.

The estate, situated on Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09 of the district, was forfeited in a ruling on Monday, December 2, 2024, by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie.

In suit no. FCT/HC/M/14519/2024 before the FCT High Court, the anti-graft agency applied for an order of final forfeiture of the property, which it stated was “reasonably suspected to have been acquired and or developed with proceeds of unlawful activity pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14, 2006, and Section 44 (2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The commission stated: “Whilst investigating the alleged monumental fraud carried out by the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and his cronies, several properties reasonably suspected to have been acquired and or developed with proceeds of unlawful activities were traced and discovered.

“That in the course of this investigation, it was revealed that the erstwhile CBN governor negotiated kickbacks in return for the allocation of foreign exchange to some companies desperate for foreign exchange for their lawful and legitimate businesses.

“That our investigation equally revealed that the erstwhile CBN governor received kickbacks from some contractors who were awarded contracts by the Central Bank of Nigeria.”