THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it will carry out a thorough investigation into the real estate sector of Nigeria’s economy as part of concerted effort to curb corruption.
The Executive Chairman of EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede, made this known at an event organised by the Law Corridor Firm, yesterday, in Abuja.
Olukoyede, in his keynote address on “Policy Dialogue on the Critical Issues Affecting Nigeria’s Real Estate Ecosystem, said the investigations will begin in the Federal Capital Territory.
He added that the agency would collaborate with other sectors and stakeholders in the real estate sector to ensure that the investigations are thorough. “This action is to determine real owners of lands across the FCT and possibly identify whether the estates are products of illicit transactions.
“Some of the estates 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 had the source of illicit funds blocked’’.
He pleaded with Nigerians to collaborate with the EFCC as is being done by the Law Corridor Firm, to fish out the criminals using real estate sector to launder stolen public funds.
He noted that preliminary investigations had already revealed that some business ventures, including real estate, were established to scam innocent and unsuspecting Nigerians.
He promised that such businesses would be brought down at the end of the investigations and assured that the anti-corruption agency will throw its full weight behind genuine businesses.
“Efforts are already on with bankers in the country to reduce lending rates for companies to survive in the country.
“Bankers will be encouraged to opt for single digit lending rates for genuine businesses to create room for employment and reduce the propensity to commit crime by the youths.
“Let me say it here that those who set up businesses with the primary motive to scam unsuspecting Nigerians, would be brought down’’. He said that statistics of real estate would be obtained and a comprehensive register of owners developed because operationalization is key to real estate growth.
“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 form ourselves into pressure groups to make the fight against corruption more meaningful’’.
He 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 counselled investors to always follow due process so as not to fall victim to 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’’.
Mr Ayokunle Erin, the Practice Group Lead, Real Estate, Construction and Infrastructure of the Law Corridor, had earlier noted that the policy dialogue was to herald the evolution of Nigeria real estate ecosystem.
Erin said the move was with a view to making the sector a major driver of Nigeria’s economy. “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’’.
He 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 added that the output unfortunately falls drastically short, 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 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.
