Anticipatory looting: EFCC reveals how politicians game the system by declaring assets they plan to buy

Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has uncovered a growing trend among some politicians who allegedly declare properties they do not yet own as part of their assets before taking office, a practice he described as “anticipatory looting.”

Olukoyede made this known on Tuesday in Abuja at the launch of a virtual tool on the code of conduct for public officers, organised by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in collaboration with the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR).

According to him, EFCC investigations have exposed cases where politically exposed persons falsify their asset declaration forms by including properties they intend to acquire once in office.

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“There was an investigation we carried out, and we discovered something not too strange, but it proves the ingenuity and the criminally smart way that some of our politically exposed persons operate,” he said.

The EFCC chairman narrated one case in which a public officer declared ownership of a multi-billion-naira property before it was even built.

The official’s CCB form listed a property valued at over ₦3 billion, but discrepancies in the address raised suspicion.

According to him, further checks revealed the official had listed the property at “No. 39” while the actual mansion was located at “No. 44”, a deliberate misrepresentation, Olukoyede said.

“Eventually, we discovered what we call anticipatory declaration of assets. Now, they declare what they intend to acquire by the time they are in office, even before they are sworn in. It is terrible,” he lamented.

Olukoyede added that the politician in question had already registered the property in the land registry and designed the mansion before assuming office, an indication that the plan to misappropriate funds was in motion well before the oath of office.

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“Before he was sworn in, he had started thinking about the money to steal and what to do with the money,” Olukoyede stated.

The EFCC chairman warned that such practices undermine the integrity of public service and urged stronger enforcement of asset declaration laws to prevent corrupt enrichment by public officials.