Ahead of the probe of super rich civil federal civil servants by the Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), reports have revealed that the alleged super rich servants are moving to sell their houses and state-of-the-art automobiles.
ICPC Chairman, Mr Ekpo Nta
According to a report by The Punch, some civil servants in Abuja were said to have put their houses up for sale with estate agents in the Federal Capital Territory in order to aid the quick sale of their properties just as buyers are cashing in on the development.
The report added that property sales in the FCT increased within the past four weeks. Real estate agents in the FCT attributed the increase to the recent probes of government officials and the resultant confiscation of their properties by the ICPC.
“The probe has created panic. Private persons now consult us, requesting our assistance in helping them sell their properties. Of course, they won’t say they are trying to avoid probe, but most of us know that that is what they are avoiding,” an agent and member of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), told the newspaper.
Also commenting on the sale of houses, the immediate past national president/chairman of REDAN, Chief Olabode Afolayan, said, “In the last couple of months, you could see that there was no activity at all. Between January and May, it was like there was no activity at all. So, what we are experiencing now shows that people are coming back to business and we hope that things will soon take normal shape.” He added that the rise in sales of properties cannot be disconnected from the anti-corruption stance of the president and the recent sanctioning of some civil servants.
The FCT chairman of REDAN, Binta Ibrahim, said she could not attribute the haste by civil servants to dispose of their belongings to the probe, but noted that the sales of properties had increased.
“People are buying properties and sales have increased since the new administration came onboard, particularly in recent times. However, I cannot say if those selling are civil servants who are trying to avoid corruption probe by the President or not,” she was quoted as saying.
The ICPC had commenced investigations of very wealthy civil servants whose salaries do not explain their apparent wealth.
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