The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences
Commission (ICPC) says it recovered 301 “illegally acquired” houses from two
public officials in the federal capital territory (FCT).
Bolaji Owasanoye, ICPC chairman, disclosed this on Thursday
at an investigative hearing organised by the House of Representatives ad hoc
committee on the operations of real estate developers in the federal capital
territory (FCT).
Speaking at the event, Owasanoye said the commission has
received several petitions on sharp practices in the industry.
He said the lack of proper documentation and registration of lands and estates in the FCT has resulted in corruption in the sector.
“Even though we have
not aggregated the numbers that relate to land matters, we have, however,
received a number of petitions from stakeholders in the real estate and housing
sector, off-takers, prospective buyers and the general public regarding the
behaviour and antics of real estate developers within the FCT, and sometimes
outside of the FCT on this very important subject matter,” he said.
“These complaints and petitions are varied; they border on
forgery, the closing of land documents, double or multiple land allocations,
allocation of land without the minister’s approval, revocation of land title
without due process, non delivery of projects, embezzlement of sourced capital,
land racketeering, the use of land syndicates and speculators, the marketing of
fake layouts, fraudulent allocation of land, inordinate delay in processing of
land documents for those who subscribe to their projects, general abuse of
office, and other related issues and challenges.
“Corrupt public officers use real estate investment as a
vehicle for hiding ill-gotten wealth and money laundering. Public officers
acquire estates in pseudonyms to conceal the illegal origin of funds.
“The commission has, for example, a case in which 241 houses
were recovered from a public officer and another one in which we recovered 60
buildings on a large expanse of land from a public officer”.
Also speaking, Daniel Esei, deputy director, Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said the agency should be empowered to
sanction persons found guilty of money laundering.
“EFCC should be given clear powers to be able to mete out
administrative sanction on all erring entities as effective, dissuasive and
proportionate sanctions as tools in ensuring that there is a sound and a robust
anti-money laundering regime,” he said.
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