The Chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has raised serious concerns about the growing number of abandoned real estate projects in Abuja, many of which he claims were illegally funded by corrupt civil servants siphoning public funds.
Speaking during a high-level policy dialogue held in the nation’s capital, Olukoyede revealed that several of these estates have been left unoccupied for over a decade. He explained that such projects are often initiated during the period when these officials have access to looted government resources, only to be abandoned when they leave office or lose access to illegal funds.
In response to the troubling trend, the EFCC boss announced the establishment of a dedicated task force that will begin a thorough inspection of all estates across the country. The objective of this initiative is to identify the real owners of these properties and trace their sources of funding.
“Some of these civil servants initiate luxury estate projects with stolen money. But once they leave public office and their source of illegal wealth dries up, they abandon these buildings, and developers are left stranded searching for new buyers or investors,” he stated.
Olukoyede further disclosed that the anti-graft agency has already filed court motions seeking the forfeiture of at least fifteen such estates. He hinted that more legal actions and property seizures are on the horizon as fresh intelligence continues to come in.
In addition, he sent a stern warning to lawyers and real estate developers, cautioning them against enabling money laundering by helping corrupt individuals conceal stolen assets through the real estate sector. According to him, professionals who knowingly assist in these schemes risk legal consequences themselves.
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“I have set up a team. We’ll start visiting all the estates across Nigeria. We want to know who owns what. What we’ve been able to gather is that most of these estates were funded by civil servants who have stolen money.” — Ola Olukoyede, EFCC chairman pic.twitter.com/WmRfVf5gkc
— TheCable (@thecableng) August 8, 2025