Federal Government Takes Action to Recover Assets
By Patience Ikpeme
The Federal Government is taking steps to reclaim assets that have been concessioned to private businesses but are not remitting the agreed revenue to the government.
These assets, are believed to currently generate billions of Naira in revenue for the managers of these government assets.
The federal government has raised concerns as some of the asset managers have allegedly obtained Certificates of Occupancy (CofO) illegally to hold onto the assets longer than agreed.
Additionally, some businesses have been selling off parcels of government land without authorization.
One notable asset in question is the Foreshore Towers on Osborne Road, Ikoyi.
The government is troubled by the diversion of revenue, amounting to billions of Naira, into private accounts instead of the government purse.
Furthermore, the government is frustrated that these private entities are using the proceeds from the concessioned assets to engage in legal battles against the government.
According to an anonymous source from the Presidency, one particular asset has been in the possession of a private business since the 1980s, yet it has not remitted any funds to the government in the last 15 years.
According to the source, “we are going to institute a criminal proceeding because forgery is a criminal offense. We are starting a fresh case at the state high court in Lagos since this is a land matter and land belong to the state”.
This company has even gone to court to prevent the government from taking possession of the asset.
The luxury apartment in question collects an annual rent of N1 billion from its tenants but has failed to remit the agreed returns to the government.
To address this issue, the federal government has sought a stay of execution from a federal high court in Lagos to prevent the private business from retaining possession of the property.
The government’s motivation to recover mismanaged assets stems from the need to generate revenue to meet its funding requirements.
Former Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, took action before leaving office in May 2023 by revoking the CofO of the luxury apartments.
It was discovered that the CofO had been illegally obtained. The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing also ran advertisements in newspapers to announce the revocation of the CofO.
Since 2001, previous administrations have not made serious efforts to recover this particular asset, despite it being determined that the property should revert to the federal government.
The Oluwole Rotimi Commission of Inquiry in 2001 criticized both federal government agencies and the property manager for their handling of the lease agreement. The maximum term of 18 years set by the Council of Ministers was exceeded without proper approval.
The current property manager has obtained a restraining order against the government, further complicating the situation.
The property was initially concessioned through a Public Private Partnerships arrangement under a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement. However, the government now insists that the time for the BOT arrangement has expired and it can no longer tolerate private businesses pocketing funds that rightfully belong to the government.
The Presidency official noted that “we know what we can do using the federal might but I think it’s not necessary. For instance when we were carrying out the reform programme, we say that each time we go into any federal institution we will see a lot of financial malfaisance so we appealed to government that we needed to do something. One of the critical decisions that was taken was to set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
