President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday evening met behind closed-door with the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Rabe Darma and the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, over the management and disposal of houses and other landed assets seized recently by the anti-graft agency across the country.
The meeting, held at the first floor office of the President at State House, Abuja, centred on ensuring that forfeited properties are managed and disposed of under specified rules of transparency and accountability, particularly as the Federal Government seeks to put recovered assets to productive public use.
The ‘crucial’ meeting took place in the wake of a growing portfolio of landed properties secured by the EFCC through interim and final forfeiture orders in corruption and financial crime cases.
It also showed present government at the centre’s increasing emphasis on moving beyond the recovery of assets to their proper management, completion where necessary, allocation or disposal in a manner that preserves their value and delivers benefits to the public.
Available statistics show the level of the asset-management challenge before the Federal Government, with the EFCC reporting the recovery of more than 1,500 non-monetary assets, predominantly properties, from late 2023 to 2025.
The status of the properties, however, varies from case to case. While some have been finally forfeited to the Federal Government, others remain under interim forfeiture orders and may still be subject to claims, appeals or other judicial processes.
Tuesday’s meeting is therefore expected to strengthen coordination between the EFCC, which secures forfeiture orders and takes possession of recovered assets, and the Housing Ministry, which has the technical capacity to assess, complete, manage or deploy housing assets transferred to the government.
The government has already demonstrated the model with the transfer of the 753-unit Lokogoma estate to the Housing Ministry, turning an asset recovered through anti-corruption proceedings into housing stock that can eventually be put to public use.
The portfolio of forfeited landed assets has increased this year following court proceedings involving former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, his associates, family members and companies.
An interim forfeiture order covering 57 properties estimated at about ₦213 billion was granted in January, with 48 of the properties, valued at about ₦180 billion, subsequently ordered finally forfeited in July, while nine were released.
The landed assets, located in the Federal Capital Territory, Kebbi, Kano and Kaduna states, include residential buildings, hotels, commercial properties, factories and substantial parcels of land.
The forfeited assets also include a luxury duplex on Amazon Street, Maitama, Abuja; a two-winged storey building formerly occupied by Harmonia Hotels on Onitsha Crescent, Area 11, Garki; and a five-storey, 53-room hotel building in Jabi District.
Other Abuja properties include a 15-room hotel on Rhine Street, Maitama; properties and terraces in Asokoro; residential buildings in Gwarimpa, BUA Estate, Apo Legislative Quarters, Wuse II and Karsana; and commercial developments in Wuse II and other parts of the capital.
The forfeited assets also include residential and hospitality properties in Kano, while the Kebbi assets comprise extensive landed developments, buildings associated with agro-allied and hospitality businesses and large parcels of land, including more than 100 hectares along the Birnin Kebbi-Jega Road.
A residential property in Abakpa GRA, Kaduna, was also among the assets covered by the forfeiture proceedings.
Also, the anti-graft agency obtained an interim forfeiture order over nine high-value Abuja properties linked to former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.
The properties include terraces in Dakibiyu, duplexes and office complexes in different parts of Abuja, blocks of flats in Wuse and Garki, as well as buildings in Maitama and Mpape.
In another case, 52 terrace and maisonette housing units at Mercyville Estate, Covenant Way, Ilasan, Lekki, Lagos, were finally forfeited in July 2026.
EFCC had earlier secured final forfeiture of several unclaimed landed assets spread across Abuja and some states.
They included residential and commercial properties in Karsana, Dakibiyu and Guzape in the FCT, as well as properties and land in Borno, Nasarawa and Niger states.
Deji Elumoye
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