Tinubu EFCC Seized Properties Meeting: President Meets Olukoyede After Osun Freeze Row
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, met with the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, and the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Rabe Darma, at the State House in Abuja, in a meeting focused on the management and disposal of houses seized by the anti-graft agency across the country.
According to the State House, the officials discussed how the recovered properties would be managed and disposed of in line with transparency and accountability requirements, as the Federal Government moves to convert seized real estate into productive public use rather than simply holding it. The discussions centred on establishing clear transparency and accountability frameworks for handling forfeited real estate, with President Tinubu discussing strategy for managing over 1,500 seized properties nationwide with the EFCC and Housing Ministry.
The meeting is expected to sharpen coordination between the EFCC, which obtains forfeiture orders and takes initial possession of assets, and the Housing Ministry, which has the capacity to assess, complete and manage housing stock transferred to government. The administration is also said to be building a National Central Database of Forfeited Assets to track recovered properties and prevent them from falling into disrepair or being mismanaged while in government custody.
Significantly, the meeting came three days after Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke won re-election and withdrew the legal action challenging an EFCC order that had frozen the state government’s accounts. The EFCC had obtained the freezing order on August 5 over an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of about N11 billion in ecology funds, intervention funds and federal allocations received through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). The Osun State Government had subsequently approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge the freezing order, seeking its nullification and N2 billion in exemplary damages, while also accusing the EFCC of conducting an unsubstantiated “witch-hunt” against it since March.
The account freeze had triggered a major political storm in the lead-up to the Osun governorship election, with opposition figures accusing the Federal Government of weaponising the EFCC against an opposition-controlled state. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had accused the Federal Government of using the freeze to intimidate voters and undermine confidence in the poll, arguing that if Tinubu could direct the EFCC to reverse its action for political reasons, he should be equally willing to direct other anti-corruption agencies in comparable cases involving opposition figures. President Tinubu had ultimately directed the EFCC to reverse the freezing of the Osun account, a move that triggered its own backlash, with scores of Nigerians on social media demanding the resignation or removal of EFCC Chairman Olukoyede over the perceived reversal.
Following his re-election victory, however, Governor Adeleke disclosed that he had directed the state Attorney General to withdraw the suit against the EFCC, crediting Tinubu’s intervention with helping to resolve the standoff. Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Adeleke framed the resolution as evidence of constructive engagement between the state and federal governments following the disputed freeze.
Beyond the Osun-linked controversy, Tuesday’s meeting also touched on the EFCC’s broader asset recovery efforts nationwide. The agency has separately secured an interim forfeiture order over nine Abuja properties linked to former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva, covering terraces, duplexes, office complexes, blocks of flats and buildings in Maitama and Mpape. Separately, 52 housing units at Mercyville Estate in Lekki, Lagos were finally forfeited to the state in July 2026, adding to the growing inventory of seized assets the Housing Ministry will need to help manage under the new coordination framework discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.
As of the time of filing, the Presidency had not released further details on the specific timeline for implementing the transparency and disposal framework discussed during the meeting, though officials signalled that further coordination between the EFCC and the Housing Ministry is expected in the coming weeks.
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