LINUS CHIBUIKE
ACTIVIST and renowned lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has refuted a report that he owns a controversial property at 42, Gana Street, Maitama District, in Abuja.
He also denied buying the said property from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, noting that it was also never recovered by the Presidential Pension Task Force.
Falana cleared the air in a statement, titled, “I have never bought any property from the EFCC.”
He said he initially expressed interest in the property, which he said was used as a collateral for a loan by the owner, but withdrew from the deal due to the delay in resolving the case.
Falana said, “I wish to say, without any fear of contradiction, that the property in question was never recovered by the Presidential Pension Task Force.
“It is on record that the property was used as a collateral by the owner, A. Group Properties Limited, for a loan from Bank PHB in 2008. When the owner of the property defaulted in the payment of the loan, it was taken over by the Asset Management of Nigeria (AMCON) via an order of interim forfeiture.”
“However, in an attempt to liquidate the loan, the owner of the property wanted to sell it. My law firm agreed to buy the property for N250 million. But we withdrew from the transaction due to the delay in resolving the case. Up till now, the case is still pending at the Federal High Court,” he added.
Falana gave as evidence an order of Justice E. S. Chukwu of an Abuja Federal High Court in a suit, which granted possession of the property to AMCON in November 2015.
He challenged the Federal Government to forfeit the N1 billion he purportedly paid for the property and recover it, in case it was established that it was recovered by the Pension Task Force.
