Many senior officials under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration allegedly shared over 500 Federal Government houses located in high brow areas of Abuja and Lagos as parting gifts.
The beneficiaries were influential ministers, top presidential aides, heads of some powerful federal agencies, like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the armed forces, as well as top military officers.
Saturday Sun reports that most of the beneficiaries’ allocations were done under fictitious names and companies.
But since the resolve of President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the Jonathan administration, many of the beneficiaries have abandoned the properties.
The posh apartments are now under lock and key and overgrown with weeds, even as others have refused to pay for the properties to avoid losing their money in the event they are revoked.
A source in the SGF’s office told Saturday Sun that the properties, whose owners are now scared to take possession of them, are scattered all over Asokoro and Maitama areas of Abuja as well as Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Apapa areas of Lagos State.
Investigations by Saturday Sun revealed that the abandoned properties are more in Lagos.
They litter Emotan Road, Apapa GRA; Liverpool Road, Apapa; Marine road, Apapa; Park Pane and Child Avenue, both also in Apapa.
In Ikoyi, they are located at Oyinkan Abayomi (Former Queen’s Drive) and Bourdillion Road, where the EFCC boss, Ibrahim Lamorde, has his allocation: a mansion and two bungalows on a large expanse of land.
It was also gathered that while some of the former ministers and presidential aides have their allocations in Abuja, top military officers and some heads of government agencies have theirs in Lagos.
The newspaper said the former ministers, presidential aides and Heads of Departments and Agencies were allocated Guest Houses and other buildings owned by their MDAs at ridiculous prices.
The source, who is a top official of the SGF’s office, however, told Saturday Sun that most of the houses were abandoned because “the owners are obviously looking for private sector individuals that can buy them as many of them didn’t really get the allocations to live in the houses, they only want to sell them off and make profit.
“Most of the owners got the houses while still in government and they wouldn’t like to disclose such huge assets in their assets declaration forms with the Code of Conduct Bureau because of the questions on the source of the funds used to pay for such.
“We’re only the ones who know who owns what, but if you follow the table of allocations, you will only find names of companies as beneficiaries.”
The source, however, exonerated the committee in charge of the houses, which is directly in charge of some of the sales, of any complicity, adding: “decisions and approvals more often than not, come from the Presidency.
“The committee also has no control over which name will be used for the purpose of allocation and what such beneficiaries do with the properties afterwards.”
Beside the sales done by the committee, it was also learnt that some public institutions like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Nigeria Ports Authority and the Central Bank of Nigeria handled the sales of some of their properties based on approval from the Presidency.
It was said that some of the controversial sales could have been done by the ministries and agencies that have presidential approval to dispose of their own assets.
Another source in the Ministry of Lands and Housing however said the number of houses allocated was far lower than 500.
The source, who is an official of the ministry, disclosed: “It is true that some requests for allocation came towards the end of the last administration but the real allocation was tactically delayed by some officials to avoid running into trouble with the then in-coming Buhari administration.”
Reacting on behalf of Lamorde, the EFCC’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said he was not at liberty to comment.
Although Uwujaren did not deny the claims, he insisted on sighting the document wherein Lamorde was named as one of the beneficiaries.
Uwujaren said: “I cannot just react to your claims. At least, it is only fair that I see the document you are relying on. I need to study the contents of the document and then react accordingly. You know too well that anybody can make such a weighty allegation just to smear the image of the chairman of EFCC.”
However, the presidency has given an indication that it would investigate the allegation.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the Buhari administration “will investigate such deals”.
