Emmanuel Onani and Tunde Oyesina 
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has an order of court for a final forfeiture of 753 Units of duplexes and other apartments in an Abuja estate measuring 150,500 square metres. New Telegraph reports that the estate is situated on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja and is said to belong to an unnamed former government official.
The final forfeiture order was granted yesterday by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie, This is the single largest asset recovery by the anti-graft agency since its establishment in 2023. Investigation revealed that the choice property was fraudulently acquired by a former top official of government (name withheld).
The forfeiture was pursuant to the EFCC’s mandate and policy directive of ensuring that the corrupt public office holders (former and serving) do not enjoy proceeds of their crime.
This newspaper reports that the lead anti-graft agency in the country 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 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to push its case.
Ruling on the Commission’s application for the final forfeiture of the property, Justice Onwuegbuzie held that the respondent did not show cause as to why he should not lose the property, “which has been reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities, the property is hereby finally forfeited to the Federal Government.”
It would be recalled that the EFCC had secured an interim order on November 1, 2024. The development followed an investigation of the unnamed government official linked to the estate by the EFCC.
Part 2, Section 7 of the EFCC Establishment Act provides, among others, that that the EFCC “has power to cause investigations to be conducted as to whether any person, corporate body or organisation has committed any offence under this Act or other law relating to economic and financial crimes and cause investigations to be conducted into the properties of any person if it appears to the Commission that the person’s lifestyle and extent of the properties are not justified by his source of income.”
Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has highlighted that asset recovery remains pivotal in the ongoing fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes. In his estimation, the fight serves as a major disincentive against the corrupt and the fraudulent. The Establishment Act of the Commission places huge emphasis on asset recovery.
