The Federal Government has finalised plans to sell a massive housing estate linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to low and middle-income Nigerians.
The huge property, which contains 753 housing units, was recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in December 2024. According to the EFCC, it is the largest single asset recovery since the agency was created in 2003. The estate covers over 150,000 square metres and includes duplexes and other types of flats.
The estate was recovered following a final forfeiture order issued on 2nd December 2024, by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.
Court documents filed by the EFCC linked the property to Emefiele.
In April 2025, Emefiele approached an FCT High Court in a bid to reclaim the estate, which had already been forfeited to the government.
He accused the EFCC of deliberately concealing the forfeiture proceedings from him, despite frequent interactions with the agency regarding other pending charges.
His application was, however, dismissed by the court.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, on Tuesday, 20th May 2025, officially handed over the 753 housing units to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa.
According to The PUNCH, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Ministry of Housing, Badamasi Haiba, said the government, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, would ensure that ordinary Nigerians benefited.
He noted that the estate was still under construction, and the ministry would first conduct structural and integrity assessments before deciding on the modalities of sale and allocation.
“Next would be to profile the houses and decide how they will be sold to Nigerians. However, the intention of the minister has always been homeownership for all categories of Nigerians, including low and middle-income earners – so we should expect to see such intentions play out here, all-inclusive,” Haiba told PUNCH.
Regarding how the houses will be sold, he said the ministry’s online portal would be used, promising that the payment options would be flexible.
He said, “Homes sold by the ministry will always have flexible payment options, including mortgage, instalment, rent-to-own payment, etc., whether in this case or any other.
“These are just 753 units. The ministry has over 10,000 houses nearing completion nationwide under the Renewed Hope Housing Programme.
“The ministry has a web portal developed where sales of these houses are done – renewedhopehomes.fmhud.gov.ng. The minister has already stated that the same process will be adopted in selling these confiscated houses.”
When asked about when the portal would be opened for interested Nigerians, he said, “The Housing Ministry will first complete the houses. Construction was ongoing before the recovery by the EFCC.”
He dismissed speculation that the houses would be allocated to those in power.
Haiba said, “People will always speculate, maybe due to experiences from years ago. The present Renewed Hope administration is doing something different in promoting transparency and accountability.
“I can only tell you what the ministry is doing. With the renewedhopehomes.fmhud.gov.ng portal, the ministry has cut off human interference to ensure that the sales process is transparent and all-inclusive.
“Any Nigerian can sit in their home, log onto the portal, browse through the different types of units and locations, select the house they want, select a payment option, submit their application, and get an offer letter right there and then.”
