Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie, on Monday, December 2, 2024 gave a ruling on a final forfeiture of an estate in Abuja measuring 150,500 square metres and containing 753 Units of duplexes and other apartments. This is the single largest asset recovery by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, since its inception in 2023. The Estate rests on on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja
The forfeiture of the property to the federal government by a former top brass of the government was pursuant to EFCC’s mandate and policy directive of ensuring that the corrupt and fraudulent do not enjoy the proceeds of their unlawful activities. In this instance, the Commission 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 Constitution of the 199 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 have not shown 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.”
The road to the final forfeiture of the property was paved by an interim forfeiture order, secured before the same Judge on November 1, 2024. The government official which fraudulently built the estate is being investigated by the EFCC. The forfeiture of the asset is an important modality of depriving the suspect of the proceeds of the crime.
The justification for the forfeiture is derived from Part 2, Section 7 of the EFCC Establishment Act, which stipulates that the EFCC “has power to cause investigations to be conducted as to whether any person, corporate body or organization 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.”
The Commission’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has repeatedly described asset recovery as pivotal in the fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes and a major disincentive against the corrupt and the fraudulent.
Addressing members of the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-corruption recently, he said, “If you understand the intricacies involved in financial crimes investigation and prosecution you will discover that to recover one billion naira is war. So, I told my people that the moment we start investigation we must also start asset tracing because asset recovery is pivotal in the anti-corruption fight; and one of the potent instruments that you can deploy as an anti-corruption agency for an effective fight is asset tracing and recovery. If you allow the corrupt or those that you are investigating to have access to the proceeds of their crime, they will fight you with it. So one of the ways to weaken them is to deprive them of the proceeds of their crime. So, our modus operandi has changed simultaneously. The moment we begin investigation, we begin asset tracing. That was what helped us to make our recoveries.”
The
Establishment
Act
of
the
Commission
places
huge
emphasis
on
asset
recovery.
Subject
to
the
provisions
of
Section
24
of
the
Act,
“whenever
the
assets
and
properties
of
any
person
arrested
under
the
Act
are
attached,
the
Commission
shall
apply
to
the
court
for
an
interim
forfeiture
and
where
a
person
is
arrested
for
an
offence
under
the
Act,
the
Commission
shall
immediately
trace
and
attach
all
the
assets
and
properties
of
the
person
acquired
as
a
result
of
such
economic
and
financial
crime
and
shall
thereafter
cause
to
be
obtained
an
interim
attachment
order
from
the
Court.
And
where
the
assets
or
properties
of
any
person
arrested
for
an
offence
under
the
Act
has
been
seized
or
any
assets
or
property
has
been
seized
by
the
Commission
under
the
Act,
the
Commission
shall
cause
an
application
to
be
made
to
the
Court
for
an
interim
order
forfeiting
the
property
concerned
to
the
Federal
Government
and
the
court
shall,
if
satisfied
that
there
is
prima
facie
evidence
that
the
property
concerned
is
liable
to
forfeiture,
make
an
interim
order
forfeiting
the
property
to
the
Federal
Government,
which
the
Commission
would
usually
escalate
to
earn
a
final
forfeiture”.
This
procedure
was
duly
followed
in
this
respect.
The
recovery
of
the
asset
represents
a
milestone
in
the
annals
of
operations
of
the
EFCC
and
infallible
proof
of
the
commitment
of
President
Bola
Ahmed
Tinubu
to
the
anti-corruption
war.
Media & Publicity
December 2, 2024
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