Owners of Abuja duplexes unknown, says EFCC

 Commission flays Sowore’s cover-up allegations
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said the company suspected to be the owner of 753 units of duplex and apartments in Abuja,  flagged by its investigations, has denied ownership of the estate following publications made in leading national newspapers.

EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, who disclosed this in Abuja, noted that it was on that basis that the commission approached the court for an order of final forfeiture, which Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court granted on Monday, December 2, 2024.

The commission berated an activist, Omowole Sowore, over allegations of a cover-up of the identity of the promoters of the Estate.

He said: “The EFCC is following with keen interest, the flurry of reactions to its record-breaking recovery of 753 duplexes and other apartments on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja.

“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 uncharitable.”

He said the allegation of a cover-up of the identity of the promoters of the estate was not logical in the sense that the proceedings for the forfeiture of the estate were in line with Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, a civil proceeding that allowed for action-in-rem rather than action-in-personam.

“The latter allows legal actions against a property and not an individual, especially in a situation of an unclaimed property. This Act allows 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 expectation of the EFCC from citizen Sowore is a patriotic appreciation of its efforts in securing such a landmark forfeiture. It is shocking that the activist is not concerned about the systemic lassitude and unhelpful permissiveness that allowed such a monstrous corrupt act in the first instance.’

It said the EFCC would continue to safeguard the nation’s financial space against manipulators and organised brigandage.