FG to relocate govt offices to properties forfeited by looters

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has said that the Federal Government plans to relocate some of its Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDA) into some recovered looted properties.

Mrs. Adeosun said this on Friday in Abuja while briefing journalists after the Steering Committee of the Efficiency Unit meeting.

The government says in the last one year it has seized billions of naira in cash and properties from corrupt public officials.

The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers had been advocating for adequate utilisation of confiscated properties.

Mrs. Adeosun said the move to relocate the agencies was to reduce waste since the properties were empty.

“The issuance of price guidelines and initiatives for reducing expenditure on rent on office and residential buildings will be the primary focus areas of the efficiency unit in coming months.

“You may want to know that the average annual expenditure on rent for a three year period of 2012 to 2014 was N3.55 billion.

“And to achieve that, we are already looking at using properties that were forfeited from recoveries and moving some of our agencies to occupy those properties rather than paying rent,’’ she said.