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Anyim, Igbinedion, others named in Abuja land scam
Yomi Odunuga. Abuja
Financial Crimes Commission has named prominent Nigerians including Edo State Governor Lucky Igbinedion; former President of the Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim; former FCT Minister, Mohammed Abba-Gana; and the current Deputy Leader of the Senate, Dr. Jonathan Zwingina, as likely beneficiaries in a land scam masterminded by one Mr. Success Amuchie in the Federal Capital Territory.
The EFCC said its investigations into the land scam, which was on the agenda of last week's Federal Executive Council meeting, had found that the men acquired and or developed plots of land in Abuja without due process.
In a letter and a preliminary report submitted to The Presidency and obtained exclusively by our correspondent, the EFCC also listed former political adviser to the President, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife; former Borno State governor, Senator Maina Maaji Lawan; and Senator Abubakar Mahdi as notable personalities who might have benefited from the fraudulent activities of Amuchie, a staff of the Federal Capital Development Authority.
The EFCC in a separate report obtained by our correspondent, also raised suspicion about a property under development said to belong to former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba.
The letter and the report titled, "The criminal activities of Mr. Success Amuchie and his methods of operation in the distortion of Abuja master-plan" was dated November 30, 2003. They were signed by the EFCC Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and were received at the Presidential Villa on December 2, 2003.
But there were also summary reports on certain personalities with irregular plots in the FCT as well as a final report on the EFCC's investigation into suspected land rackets within Asokoro Extension 111 District Layout plan of the territory, all obtained by our correspondent.
The FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, disclosed last week that the EFCC was probing some personalities over land scam in the territory, adding that all the plots were bought from Amuchie who was described as the kingpin and an expert in forging land titles and documents.
In the preliminary report, the EFCC said Anyim sold one of the three plots he acquired through Amuchie to Igbinedion.
The Edo State governor was said to have, "illegally merged, extended the plots and also altered the original building plans. The plots listed include 1375, 2445, 2447, 2448 and 2446.
The report said, "Discreet investigation so far conducted revealed that out of the three plots Nos. 1375, 1376 and 1377 acquired by Anyim from Engineer Success, the former President of the Senate sold one to Governor Igbinedion. The particulars of the sold plot are yet to be ascertained due to uncooperative attitude of Pius Anyim but Governor Igbinedion has since developed the plot. The EFCC officers have since located the plot and the property on the ground."
The EFCC said though Anyim had fully developed one of the plots, which were located in Asokoro district, all the documents on the plots appeared to have been forged.
The commission said that Anyim had rebuffed all efforts to tender the documents in his possession for investigation.
The report said, "All efforts by EFCC detectives to obtain the comments of the former president of the Senate on the subject have been rebuffed by him.
"From all indications, the documents in respect of the three plots are suspected to have been forged. Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Development Authority has been requested to furnish the commission with the available documents in their possession if any. One of these plots has been duly developed and is currently being developed.
Reacting to the allegations against the governor, the Secretary to Edo State Government, Mr. Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who spoke with our correspondent on Wednesday in Benin, said he was not aware that the EFCC was probing the governor for any reason.
He, however, said the governor was not in a position to know whether the person who sold the land to him acquired it in any dubious way since he (the governor) does not work in the FCT.
Igbinedion was said to have travelled abroad, having started a three-week leave on Monday.
Another case of the alleged discrepancies in the allocation of land involving the Anyim family was that of one Blessing Anyim who was allocated Plot No. 1376.
Though the Development Control Department of the FCT ministry confirmed the approval of the building plans, however, the EFCC said there were no documents to confirm the allocation of the plot to Blessing Anyim.
"The committee observed that the processes of allocating Plot Nos. 1375, 1376 and 1377 to the above allottees before their sale to Chief Anyim Pius Anyim were fraud. The committee further confirmed that the said plots were illegally merged, building plan approval was obtained, and the plots developed and occupied by Anyim. Chief Anyim confirmed acquiring plot No. 1375 from Maina Maji Lawan and Plot No. 1377 from Stephen R. Shekarau. The committee, however, confirmed all the purported allocations including Plot No. 1376 in the name of Blessing Anyim to be forged," the report said.
Investigations into suspected land rackets within Asokoro Extention111 in the FCT also found that Plot No. 1379 'C' was illegally acquired, developed and occupied by Ezeife without obtaining the necessary land documents from the ministry.
In Ezeife's category, listed in the final report as "cases of suspected development with forged documents", is also another former president of the Senate, Chief Evan Enwerem, accused of illegal acquisition of Plot No. 2444 originally belonging to Boomal Nigeria Limited. Enwerem was said to have developed the plot without approved building plan.
"Development Control Department reported of a structure on the plot which is owned by the former president of the Senate, Chief Enwerem. There are no building plans approvals and the committee noted that there is no evidence on the part of the ministry allocating the plot to Enwerem. The plot is being developed without approved building plan," EFCC stated in the report.
Regarding Osoba and Plot 1451 'C' believed to belong to him, the report said, "The committee suspected illegal acquisition of this plot currently under construction. Site investigations, however, confirmed that the plot is being developed by former governor Segun Osoba. All efforts by the Development Control Department to obtain the necessary land documents from the developer has not been successful."
El-Rufai's predecessor in office, Mohammed Abba Gana, was similarly found to have acquired five plots of land at different locations from Amuchie, all without due diligence.
The plots are listed as Nos. 1974, 1075, 291, 292 and 480 located in Central Business District.
Of the five allocations, which were made during Abba Gana's tenure as FCT minister, three of them (291, 292 and 480) were said to have been acquired by Abba Gana in the names of Bulama Holdings and Alburibe Properties Limited. The EFCC said it had not established any link between the company and the former minister.
According to the report, "The Corporate Affairs Commission has been contacted by the EFCC to ascertain the identities of the owners of these companies. All efforts to obtain the comments of the former Minister had been resisted by him. As Minister of the FCT, there is every likelihood that he must have regularised the documents of the plots in his favour. Meanwhile, the FCDA has been requested to furnish us with the particulars of documents in respect of the plots to enable further investigation to be carried out."
Zwingina, Ezeife, Maaji Lawan and Abubakar Mahdi were also found to have purchased different plots of land from Amuchie in questionable circumstances.
The plots, the EFCC noted, were allocated without records of genuine documents.
Their cases as listed by the EFCC are: "Dr. Jonathan Zwingina: He is the current Deputy Leader of the Senate. He also acquired plot No. 2505 Asokoro from Engineer Success Amuchie. In his written statement to officers of the commission, he admitted paying the sum of N7 million to Engineer Amuchie for the plot and processing building drawings. The offer letter in respect of the plot is suspected to have been forged and the Certificate of Occupancy is yet to be signed but the property has been fully developed by him.
"Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife: He was the former political adviser to the President. While in office, he was approached by Engineer Success Amuchie that he could assist him get a developed plot. Consequently, plot No. 1379D Asokoro among other plots contained in a Ministerial Approval List was brought to him by Success. The former presidential adviser has since developed the plot but has not produced any title to the property.
"Maina Maaji Lawan: He was a former senator and former civilian governor of Borno State. During the current investigation, the senator was discovered to have acquired four plots with Nos. 774, 1117, 1037 and 3343 from Engineer Success. The plots are located in Wuse and Maitama districts of FCT and have been fully developed with tenants occupying the buildings. All the documents in respect of the plots are suspected to have been forged.
"Senators Abubakar Mahdi: When contacted by EFCC, the senator stated that he applied for a commercial piece of plot on behalf of his company known as A. M. Holdings Nigeria Limited in May 2001. His application was based on information on that plot by Engineer Success but he personally processed all the relevant documents from offer stage to issuance of Certificate of Occupancy without going through any third party. The commercial plot No. 863 Utako measuring 6331 Sq. metre has a Certificate of Occupancy No. C FCT 000333 dated 21/11/2002 and duly signed by Engineer Muhammed Abba Gana who was then minister of FCT. The ministry has been contacted to confirm the authenticity of the said certificate and the reply is being awaited."
Our correspondent gathered that Zwingina wrote series of letters in his bid to stop the FCDA from either demolishing the land or acquiring the land from him.
In a letter to the former FCT minister, Abba Gana, dated February 22, 2003, the deputy leader of the Senate complained about a wrongful notice of demolition served on his property and sought approval for the regularisation and offer of Certificate of Occupancy after due payments.
Lawan on his part wrote Vice-President Atiku Abubakar saying he was a victim of someone who sold/facilitated the sale of some plots of land in the FCT whose documents have now turned out to be irregular.
In the letter dated November 8, 2003, the former governor urged Abubakar to intervene in the matter in getting the documentation regularized in order to save what he called his huge investment. Both Zwingina's and Lawan's letters were obtained by our correspondent.
The EFCC report also found that two staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Muhammadu Jibrilla and Mainasara Mukailu, acquired plots of land in the FCT without due process.
The Federal Government had on Wednesday last week threatened that those found guilty would be prosecuted.
The PUNCH, Thursday, July 29, 2004
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