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Paschal Njoku
ABUJA -Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, on Wednesday, hinted on plans by the commission to extend it’s tentacles on financial activities of developers and other stakeholders in the real estate sector.
The move is part of government’s effort to checkmate the use of the real estate sector to launder money and other financial corrupt practices in the sector.
To show government’s, Olukoyede disclosed that investigation into the real estate sector will start from the Federal Capital Territory Development Administration, where he said, several dirty deals with regards to land allocation and acquisition are being perpetrated by some dubious and corrupt staff of the FCDA.
The EFCC Chairman stated that the agency will work assidously towards ascertaining the
real owners of the high value estates that litter many cities in Nigeria, with the view to knowing whether they are funded with proceeds of corruption.
He noted that preliminary investigation had revealed that some of the business ventures including real estate were founded to dupe unsuspecting Nigerians of their monies.
Olukoyede insisted that such businesses would be brought down at the end of investigation.
“While we at the EFCC are fighting corruption with everything at our disposal, including laws, we will try to make businesses succeed so as to create room for employment and reduce propensity to commit crime by the youths. Let me say it here that those who set up businesses with primary motive to scam unsuspecting Nigerians would be brought down.
“Statistics of real estate would be obtained and a comprehensive register of owners would be developed because operationalization is key for the real estate to grow.
“It is only in Nigeria that you will see a civil servant owning a property of N500 million and nobody asks questions for baseless fears of uncertainties. We can make things work in Nigeria, the mentality of let go in corruption must be changed. We must group ourselves into pressure groups to make the fight against corruption more meaningful”.
Mr Olukoyede, disclosed this in a keynote speech at a “Policy Dialogue on the Critical Issues Affecting Nigeria’s Real Estate Ecosystem”, organised by the Law Corridor Firm.
Olukoyede noted that some of the estates especially in the FCT, have been abandoned because they were being funded or owned by some civil servants through stealing of public funds, stressing that once they are out of jobs or the source of illicit funds blocked, they become helpless.
He appealed to
Nigerians to collaborate with the anti graft agency as being done by the Law Corridor Firm to burst the money laundering syndicate in the real estate sector.
While assuring that the agency will support genuine businesses, the EFCC Chairman said efforts are being made to encourage bankers in the country to reduce lending rates for companies to survive in the country.
Presently, Olukoyede observed that nobody or institution, no matter how viable can survive bank loans of 30% lending charges adding that the bankers will be encouraged to opt for single digit lending rates for genuine businesses to thrive.
The EFCC Chairman advised developers to always follow due process and conduct Know Your Client (KYC) so as not to fall victim of fraudsters.
“I have seen foreign investors establishing banks in Nigeria with clean record, clean documentation and clean compliance with the law. We in EFCC don’t disturb such financial institutions but we move against the ones built on fraud, he said.
Olukoyede, therefore called on the Federal and State governments to earmark special funds to support growth of the real estate sector, noting that concerted efforts must be made to make the sector survive.
In a welcome address, the Practice Group Lead, Real Estate, Construction and Infrastructure of the Law Corridor, Mr Ayokunle Erin, said that the policy dialogue was put in place to herald evolution of Nigeria real estate ecosystem with a view to make the sector a major driver of Nigeria’s economy.
The real estate sector, Erin said, bears more than just concrete structures and land registries but it is an economic power house that directly influences urban development, job creation, wealth distribution and social stability.
He pointed out that Nigeria’s current housing deficit stood at between 17 to 20 million housing units with a required annual delivery of 700,000 units to meet the demand.
But unfortunately, that output, according to Erin, falls drastically with Abuja having only about 5000 new units constructed in 2024, to satisfy less than 10 percent of the needs in the FCT.
The gaps he said, reflects the deep rooted policy failure, regulatory lapses and legal ambiguities that have continued to embolden fraudsters, quacks and unlicensed agents to continue to have a field day in the sector.
Therefore, Erin has appealed to developers and stakeholders in the real estate sector to act with clarity, courage, and coordination that would shape the landscape of Nigerian real estate and redefine what is possible for communities and Nigeria as a country.
