By Citizenship Newspaper
The Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, Wednesday, announced the commission’s plans to beam its searchlight on real estate sector of Nigeria to curb corruption.
The anti-graft agency said that the probe will begin in the Federal Capital Territory with a view to determining real owners and possibly identify whether the estates are products of illicit transactions.
Olukoyede, made this known on Wednesday in Abuja in his keynote address on “Policy Dialogue on the Critical Issues Affecting Nigeria’s Real Estate Ecosystem” organized by Law Corridor.
Speaking at the event, the agency said it would collaborate with other sectors and stakeholders in the real estate sector on the investigative issue so as to make the pending probe worthwhile.
Olukoyede said that some of the estates especially in Abuja, have been abandoned because they were being funded by some civil servants through stolen public funds and having either lost their jobs or the source of illicit funds blocked.
The EFCC’s boss pleaded with Nigerians to collaborate with EFCC as being done by the Law Corridor Firm to fish out the criminals using real estate sector to launder public funds.
He noted that preliminary investigation had already revealed that some business ventures including real estate were established to scam innocent and unsuspecting Nigerians and vowed that such businesses would be brought down at the end of investigation.
Olukoyede however, assured that the anti corruption agency will throw its full weight behind genuine businesses, adding that efforts are already on with bankers in the country to reduce lending rates for companies to survive in the country.
At the moment, he explained that no one 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.
“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”.
The EFCC chairman appealed to the federal and state governments to set up special funds to support growth of the real estate sector, adding that concrete efforts must be made to make the sector survive.
.He counseled investors to always follow due process 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.
Earlier, the Practice Group Lead, Real Estate, Construction and Infrastructure of the Law Corridor, Mr Ayokunle Erin, had 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.
According to the legal practitioner, the real estate sector 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.
The lawyer revealed 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.
He however, said that output unfortunately 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.
According to him the gaps reflected deep rooted policy failure, regulatory lapses and legal ambiguities that continue to embolden fraudsters, quacks and unlicensed agents.
He therefore called on 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.
