The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has made a significant revelation by uncovering 189 fictitious companies that were manipulating the process to secure land allocations in the Federal Capital Territory.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!During a press briefing in Abuja, Mr. Hussaini Magaji, the Registrar General of the CAC, revealed that this discovery was initiated after a complaint from the Federal Capital Territory Administration about a non-existent company’s land allocation request. This complaint triggered further investigation, leading to the identification of these sham companies.
In a noteworthy development, two suspects, including a lawyer, have been apprehended in connection with this fraudulent activity. The investigation also exposed a cartel involving personnel from the Abuja Geographical Information System, lawyers, and individuals within the commission.
Mr. Magaji stated, “One of the significant achievements during my tenure is our ability to dismantle a cartel of individuals who were causing disruptions for the commission. This cartel collaborated with certain lawyers posing as accredited agents of the commission and with staff from the Abuja Geographical Information System to secure land allocations in the Federal Capital Territory. This illegal operation came to our attention when the Federal Capital Territory Administration asked us to verify applications from entities that, as it turned out, did not exist in our system.”
Explaining their modus operandi, the head of CAC clarified that this cartel manipulated the land allocation process to prioritize their applications over legitimate ones, ultimately facilitating land fraud in the nation’s capital. He emphasized the extent of their success before being uncovered.
He added, “We have so far identified 189 fake companies that were used to secure land allocations in the FCT, and we have facilitated the arrest of two suspects, including a lawyer. We are currently interrogating them to gather more information and to apprehend other members of this cartel.”
In line with the commission’s vision, Mr. Magaji pledged to enhance CAC’s revenue base by imposing sanctions on companies that fail to disclose their annual returns and other necessary penalties. This, he explained, would enable the commission to fulfill its mission as a world-class regulatory body.
