ABUJA’S UNOCCUPIED HOUSES AND ESTATES

Erhisohwode A. Ovie urges the authorities to go after the owners of some luxury property

According to the UNODC STAR report 2014, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) annual reports describe in detail the variety and “creativity” behind money laundering mechanisms. An interesting feature of that ‘creativity’ is that different types of crimes tend to rely on different types of laundering mechanisms. Relying on reports from the FATF and the Egmont Group, Reuters and Truman (2004) have tabulated the laundering mechanism employed by each type of crime. They find that out of 580 cases analysed, nearly 25 per cent of them used wire transfers as the laundering mechanism and 13 per cent used front companies. The money laundering process involves four stages which include predicate crimes through corruption and bribery, fraud and other serious crimes. First the monies are illegally taken out of the common purse and via a backdoor, introduced into the stream of commerce. After they do that, they find a way of distancing the money from its criminal source either by moving the money to different accounts or moved to different countries. At the last stage of this criminal masterminding, the laundered monies are distributed back to the criminals and therefore create an appearance of legitimate wealth.

Reports in the media have shown that a lot of houses and estates in the city of Abuja are empty. Most of them are proceeds of elaborate money laundering schemes. But tell me: how can an average Nigerian living within the limits of his earning afford to pay such sums as would be needed to rent those houses? Several instances wherein ill-gotten wealth has been allegedly used to procure property abound. Past and present public servants are alleged to own mansions in Dubai, the United Kingdom and the US, and property dotting the nooks and crannies of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. There is also a case involving a former Chief of Staff who spent the sum of N1.4billion allegedly stolen from the accounts of the Nigerian Air Force to purchase a mansion in Maitama, Abuja. For lack of exhaustive investigations, these

REPORTS IN THE MEDIA HAVE SHOWN THAT A LOT OF HOUSES AND ESTATES IN THE CITY OF ABUJA ARE EMPTY. MOST OF THEM ARE PROCEEDS OF ELABORATE MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEMES

properties have not been seized and confiscated.

Therefore, if the report on Premium Times of Tuesday, September 5, 2017 is something we can put our finger on, that the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property may soon take over empty houses in Abuja and sell them, then we can all rejoice that indeed some change is coming. You will agree with me that if all these laundered monies were properly expended in our beloved nation’s industrial, ICT and agricultural sectors, this country will be a centre of excellence and an attraction to foreign investors. Today, politicians send their children abroad for studies believing that our institutions are already crumbled and substandard. If all these laundered monies were used to enhance our educational system and promote good academic research in our universities, matters would be different today in Nigeria.

To this end, I suggest that the federal government should look critically into the area of illegally acquired choice properties, both home and abroad. In the UK, British citizens cannot buy a home with cash. Rather they pay for a home via a mortgage system. But that same Britain, the US and other EU countries would accept large amounts of money from Nigerians to buy a home instead of helping Nigeria to fob off or arrest those stealing from public purses to buy homes abroad. Most of us were happy with the introduction of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and which has saved the billions of naira which money launderers would have easily siphoned. For the criminally-minded amongst us, their one hope today is built on the landed properties and hotels acquired in and outside the country with looted funds. Politicians who acquire expansive and expensive landed property and erect choice hotels are not ghosts. They are human beings. They can be reined in for questioning and prosecuted accordingly. I urge the anti-corruption agencies to continue to pursue those who are using stolen public monies to build houses which the average Nigerian cannot afford to rent. Ovie wrote from ANEEJ, Benin City