Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has notified estate developers against serving as conducts for Illicit Financial Flows, IFFS.
This was even as the Commission noted that it was currently probing completed and unoccupied estates in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, with the help of sister agencies.
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The ICPC Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, disclosed this at the 13th Annual General Meeting, AGM, and Conference of the Association held at the Amadeo Event Centre, GRA, Enugu, on Tuesday, July 5.
Owasanoye, who was represented by the Commission’s Director of Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management, Mr. Adedayo Kayode, said that the Commission was currently investigating cases of fully completed but unoccupied estates in Abuja.
This was in order to identify developers serving as conduit for money laundering and IFFs.
He added that the Commission intends to cover other major housing hubs in the country especially Lagos and Port-Harcourt.
A statement by ICPC said that the Chairman further urged the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, REDAN, to consider direct involvement in low-cost housing constructions nation-wide to assist the “Housing for All” programme by the Federal Government.
While urging the Association to support law enforcement agencies in their investigations, Prof. Owasanoye advised that it was to intensify its compliance monitoring of members in areas of unwholesome practices by low quality housing deliveries and shady financial practice.
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The statement quoted the Chairman as saying;
The Commission conducted a System Study and Review of Mass Housing delivery in the FCT where it was discovered that members of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, REDAN, who had been allocated huge plots of land for mass housing development in Nigeria through the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) with particular responsibility to provide infrastructure after which allocations are made to the NHF contributors failed in the payment of their counterpart funding and in the delivery of infrastructure to the project sites and rather resorted to offering and selling the Estate plots to the highest bidder contrary to the government policy.
He counseled the leadership of REDAN to self-regulate its members as part of measures to prevent being used for money laundering and illicit financial flows, IFFs.
Owasanoye urged the leadership of REDAN to introduce the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) principles for its clients to avoid serving as conduits for money launderers and IFFs offenders.
The ICPC Chairman, however, expressed regrets that some members of REDAN are engaged by unscrupulous individuals and Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) to launder their ill-gotten wealth thereby exposing honest and patriotic members of the association to being labeled corrupt by perception.
Owasanoye also encouraged the REDAN leadership to play a pivotal role in bringing down the mounting cost of housing construction in Nigeria as well as closing the enormous gap in housing construction by collaborating with relevant government agencies
He said;
REDAN can serve as a buffer for its members by importing building materials in large quantities which will be made available to members at lower cost than the open market thereby forcing down the cost of housing construction in the country.
The Association should also exploit the possibility of partnering with manufacturers in order to reduce the cost of building materials and assist in making housing affordable for all.
