Nigerians knock EFCC for concealing identity of forfeited Abuja estate’s owner

Many Nigerians described EFCC’s decision to withhold the details of the vast estate's owner as hypocritical and taking Nigerians for a ride.

Some Nigerians have rebuked the Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC) for concealing the identity of the owner of the vast Abuja property forfeited to the federal government on Monday.

PREMIUM TIMES reported Monday how EFCC, Nigeria’s leading anti-corruption agency, secured the final forfeiture of the estate in Abuja, the largest single-asset recovery since the agency’s inception in 2003.

The commission achieved this through an order of final forfeiture issued by a court in Abuja Monday.

The recovered asset is a vast estate in Abuja measuring 150,500 square metres with 753 units of duplexes and other apartments.

The estate located at Cadastral Zone CO9, Lokogoma District of the FCT, Abuja, was recovered from an unnamed “former top brass of the government,” EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said in a statement on Monday.

EFCC characteristically discloses the full details of seizures, including the identities of the suspects involved, but failed to do so without providing reasons for its action regarding Monday’s case.

Many Nigerians are still baffled by EFCC’s decision to withhold details of the owner of the haul of seized real estate, especially that the final forfeiture implies that investigation has been completed.

Many X (formerly Twitter) users have described the attitude of the EFCC as hypocritical and taking Nigerians for a ride.

Controversies

Commenting on the issue, Ridwan Oke, a Lagos-based lawyer, is one of those who expressed disappointment over EFCC’s refusal to disclose the identity of suspect.

“Look at how EFCC is making Nigerians guess who they secured a final forfeiture order against and recovered 753 duplexes from? How’s a ‘responsible’ organisation unable to provide the name of the former government official whom they recovered their largest asset recovery in their history from?”

Another X user, @N6oflife6, said, “You catch regular Nigerians everyday and display their names and faces all over the internet but a criminal of this magnitude you want us to be satisfied with former top government brass. You guys are taking Nigerians for a sick ride. Name him immediately.”

Dipo Awojide, a chartered consultant, noted that full disclosure of the suspect’s identity is needed to build trust. “You should include the name of the individual.”

In the comment section of EFCC’s post announcing the seizure, @RealQueenBee_ said the announcement of the recovery of the property was nothing more than media frenzy and speculated that property would be auctioned at a giveaway price.

“This is just a media frenzy. It will be auctioned for #100m to one of them. But who’s the former govt top brass? Anyways, trust the EFCC at your peril,” she said.

Speaking on the issue, Olamide Oni, posted, “For this recovery to resonate fully with the public, the EFCC must prioritise transparency and accountability. The magnitude of this recovery demands full disclosure — we demand details and the official’s identity be made public. Without these, trust in the system risks eroding.”

Speculation

EFCC’s lack of transparency regarding the recovery has sparked speculations around its ownership.

Omoyele Sowore, Sahara Reporters publisher and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 election, posted on social media later on Monday that the vast estate was recovered from former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele.

“I just heard from the grapevine that the 753 duplexes forfeited by an FCT Court in Apo belong to Muhammadu @MBuhari’s CBN Gov. Godwin @GodwinIEmefiele!

“He reportedly built this estate and more with kickbacks. But the question is why @officialEFCC opted to cover up his identity,” Mr Sowore alleged.

Mr Emefiele has been facing prosecution in different courts in Lagos and Abuja after his removal from office in June last year.

However, recovery of assets linked to Mr Emefiele has been a matter of public knowledge, although none has come near the magnitude of the Abuja estate.

Earlier this month, the Nigerian media outlets reported the final forfeiture of $2 million, seven prime landed properties, and share certificates linked to the former CBN governor.

When contacted for comments on Tuesday, EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said he was going to issue a new press release on the matter.

“There is a press statement to your questions on why we did not publish the name or whether there is a future plan to do so. Wait for it,” the EFCC spokesperson said.