President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday charged relevant met government agencies charged with management and disposal of forfeited houses on the for transparency to strengthen public confidence in the process.
The President gave the charge when he met with Olanipekun Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Muttaqha Rabe Darma, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, as part of the ongoing plans to restructure the management and disposal of houses and other landed assets seized by the EFFC across the country.
The 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.
Tinubu, said his administration has developed appropriate mechanisms to track and manage the recovered assets.
These are being done through the National Central Database of Forfeited Assets, as part of efforts to ensure that properties recovered on behalf of the state are properly documented and do not deteriorate, disappear from government records or return to private hands through opaque processes.
BusinessDay gathered that the EFCC may have recovered over 1,500 non-monetary assets, predominantly properties, over the period covering late 2023 to 2025.
Following recovery of assets by the federal government disposes the legally forfeited properties, they were transferred to the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for management and disposal to members of the public
These include assets from high-profile cases handled by the EFCC.
Only recently, the anti- graft agency handed over about 753 of such houses to the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
The houses are to be sold to members of the public through structured sales, transparent bidding, and allocation via official platforms like the Renewed Hope Housing Portal.
Designated technical committees conduct structural integrity tests, valuation assessments, and infrastructure checks (like roads and utilities) before sale.
Th recovered housing units are listed for competitive public bidding or allocation to ensure transparency and prevent elite monopolization.
The property allegedly linked to Godwin Emefiele, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, include 753-unit housing estate located at Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja,
The EFFC had handed over the houses, on a 150,000 square metres of land, to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for completion and disposal to members of the public in May, 2025
Others include duplexes and apartments in Lekki Phase 1 and Ikoyi, undeveloped land and a bungalow around Queens Drive, Ikoyi, properties on Probyn Road and Adekunle Lawal Road, as well as an industrial complex covering 22 plots in Agbor, Delta State, also said to have been acquired illegally by the former CBN Governor
Other assets include a multi-storey development comprising dozens of housing units in the Otunba Elegushi area of Lagos, industrial and warehouse properties, and other plots and estates in Lekki, Ikoyi and Amuwo-Odofin.
The Supreme Court in 2026 also affirmed the forfeiture of seven landed properties linked to Emefiele, alongside monetary and other assets.
Also in 2026, the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, his associates, family members and companies, also forfeited 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 are spread across the Federal Capital Territory, Kebbi, Kano and Kaduna states and include residential buildings, hotels, commercial properties, factories and substantial parcels of land.
Among them are 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 portfolio also includes 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.
The EFCC has also 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.
Malami also forfeited another 52 terrace and maisonette housing units at Mercyville Estate, Covenant Way, Ilasan, Lekki, Lagos, in July 2026.
The anti-graft agency 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.
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