Stakeholders in Nigeria’s housing sector have supported the recent claim by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, who said many of the luxurious houses in Abuja are owned by civil servants, not politicians. The EFCC boss revealed that career civil servants dominate ownership of expensive properties in elite Abuja districts like Asokoro and Maitama, raising serious concerns about corruption in the public service.
Reacting to the statement, the President of the Association of Housing Corporations of Nigeria (AHCN), Mr Eno Obongha, said the EFCC’s findings are credible and based on investigations supported by documents. He noted that while every Nigerian has a right to own a home, such ownership must be clean and free from illegal activity. He stressed that if a house is acquired through corrupt means, the matter must be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
Obongha said, “A crime is a crime, whether it is done during the day or in the dark. Whether it is a civil servant or a politician involved, once the act is illegal, the law should take its full course. We cannot support crime under the excuse of encouraging home ownership.”
He further explained that the EFCC had earlier traced over ₦33 billion missing from a federal ministry. After deeper investigations, ₦3 billion was linked to the then minister, while the remaining ₦30.7 billion was connected to top civil servants, including directors in finance, procurement, and administration. According to him, this highlights the scale of corruption among government employees.
The EFCC chairman, Mr Olukoyede, had earlier revealed that many Abuja homes worth hundreds of millions of naira are not owned by business people or politicians, but by civil servants whose salaries cannot explain their wealth. He said the agency had evidence to prove these claims and mentioned that several investigations had exposed the massive role civil servants play in high-level corruption.
According to him, “Statistics have shown, and we have evidence to prove, that most houses in Asokoro and Maitama are owned by civil servants.” He warned that the civil service has turned into a ‘shadow government’ where huge sums are stolen silently from the national treasury.
In support of the EFCC’s claims, Mr Jeremiah Akinsele, CEO of Magnificent Choice Services Project and Engineering Ltd, said the fight against corruption is more difficult because the system itself is weak and lacks proper structure. He noted that civil servants often work together to steal public funds, and without them, politicians cannot easily access money.
Akinsele said, “There are permanent secretaries, directors, and other senior staff involved in the movement of public funds. These are the real actors in many of the corrupt deals. The problem is that no one is tracing their wealth or asking questions.”
He also pointed to the lack of proper documentation in the property sector as one of the challenges making it hard to trace ownership. According to him, property records in Nigeria are sometimes incomplete or deliberately altered. “Some records use only numbers, not names. This makes it difficult to identify who truly owns a property,” he said.
The EFCC chairman added that in several cases, civil servants accused of owning suspicious properties did not deny it once shown strong evidence. He said, “Many of them confessed. They didn’t even try to blame the ministers. Once we showed them the documents, they owned up.”
Olukoyede criticised the tendency of the public to always focus on politicians when corruption is discussed, saying civil servants are often more deeply involved and remain in office for many years, making them even more dangerous. He also accused the private sector of playing a major role in public corruption through partnerships with government insiders.
He concluded by saying that the EFCC is stepping up its investigation methods, including tracking real estate purchases, bank accounts of family members, and money trails through shell companies. The agency is determined to expose and stop corruption in both public and private institutions.
Housing sector experts believe this exposure should lead to reforms. Mr Eno Obongha called for a stronger mortgage system that makes it easier for Nigerians to buy houses through legal means. He said the idea that people must gather millions of naira to buy a house is one of the reasons corruption thrives. According to him, a well-structured mortgage system would encourage transparency and reduce the pressure that pushes people to seek illegal wealth.
This conversation around property ownership in Abuja has raised fresh questions about how deep corruption has spread within Nigeria’s public institutions, and how the real estate market has been used as a tool to hide stolen money. As the EFCC continues its investigations, more revelations may surface about the hidden power and wealth within the country’s civil service.
