Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) has said that the recommendation by the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on housing to jettison the REDAN bill will impede efforts to sanitise the sector of money laundering.
The President of REDAN, Aliyu Wammako, during a press briefing at the weekend in Abuja, said the communique published by the committee at the end of its workshop indicated that developers in the real estate are hell-bent on stifling reforms to stop the flow of illegal money into the sector.
Wammako wondered why the committee would ask the green chamber not to consider the bill despite recognising that “There is no clear regulatory legal framework for estate developers hence the proliferation of incompetent, inefficient and fraudulent developers with the tendency to mislead the public and that FCT is loosing so much revenue as a result of non-compliance to the real estate regulations and enforcement of laws on land administration”.
He added that the bill, which has been passed in the Senate but yet to be voted on at the House of Representatives is aimed at resolving the lingering land issues in the FCT and by extension in the entire country.
“We are particularly very concerned about such a “hasty” recommendation when indeed REDAN as well as other well-meaning institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML), scholars from many universities of learning, international bodies just to mention a few, have put in efforts in drafting the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill.”
When asked if the association knows those who are engaging in money laundering in the sector, he pointed fingers at developers who build houses that are not affordable to ordinary Nigerians and the houses are not rented out but they continue to build more.
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