EXCLUSIVE: FCT Director Dragged to EFCC Over Alleged Land Scam

Indications emerged yesterday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) might invite a director in the office of the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for questioning based on the strength of the allegation contained in a petition against him.

The complainants, Austine and Antony Obele had alleged the involvement of the said director in the sale of a non-existing plot of land to the two brothers at N6.5 Million.

They alleged that the director who as at the time of the purported sale, was the Deputy Director in the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), made several misrepresentations to the complainants.

The petition which was signed by the principal consultant, Conquerors Legal Suits, Chinyere Monago, alleged that the said director had claimed ownership of the parcel of land located at plot no. 1039C in Kaura district, Abuja.

The petition reads in part, "Based on his respectable position, our clients believed all he said and parted with the said sum and were in turn given the purported document of plot no. 1039C in Kaura district with file number MFCT/LA/MISC/17346, which he claimed to have secured for himself using the name of M/s Sulman and associates.

"Our search at the Corporate Affairs Commission , Abuja, revealed that the said Sulman and associates is non- existent. Unfortunately, while in the process of perfecting the title to the said plot of land, our clients discovered, much to their chagrin and bewilderment, that the said parcel of land was just a charade and non-existent, as the same parcel of land was indeed allocated to another company as plot 1039 Kaura district, Abuja.

"This unfortunate discovery is certainly indicative of fraud and illegality in the transaction. Efforts to get the director  remedy the anomaly proved abortive, therefore we appeal to EFCC to investigate the matter with a view to getting justice done.

"And also disallow the director to stop using his official position to fraudulently procure land titles to himself using fictitious names and to sell same to unsuspecting people when indeed the plots of land do not belong to him.”

The petition further appealed to EFCC to investigate strictly the instant scenario with a view to remedying the instant economic breaches bearing in mind that the current value of the land in question is over one hundred million naira.