The 753 forfeited Abuja duplexes: Matters arising

The controversy surrounding the ownership and forfeiture of 753 duplexes discovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will not go away until the commission answers nagging posers agitating the mind of the average Nigerian. While it is remarkable that the discovery is one of the commission’s anti-corruption most impressive achievements, if indeed the scheme constitutes proceedings arising from suspected fraud, the haul will not go unblemished until the seemingly polluted air around it is fully cleared.

Disclosing why it did not reveal the names of the individuals involved in the housing project, the commission reportedly said it would be unprofessional, adding that “substantive criminal investigation on the matter still continues.” A flurry of reactions has trailed the record-breaking recovery, with some people accusing the EFCC of cover-up of the true owners, an accusation the commission dismissed as unacceptable and grossly uncharitable. “The allegation of a 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-personam. The latter allows legal actions against a property, not an individual, especially in 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 EFCC went on to state: “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 made 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.”

Also praising what it called “the landmark forfeiture”, the EFCC said it was shocking that its critics are not concerned about “the systemic lassitude and unhelpful permissiveness that allowed such a monstrous corrupt act in the first instance,” warning that “Nigerians should gear up for more against lapses and loopholes in our system that continue to make the nation vulnerable to corrupt tendencies.”

The EFCC promised to safeguard the nation’s financial space against manipulators and organised brigandage. “It is important to note that the substantive criminal investigation on the matter still continues”, the commission noted, emphasising that “It will be unprofessional of the EFCC to go to town by mentioning names of individuals whose identities were not directly linked to any title document of the properties.”
To be continued tomorrow.