As the directive mandating some public servants to declare their assets gather momentum, real estate agents have hinted that most highly-placed government officials prefer to buy buildings in foreign countries, while many of them do not use their names when making purchases in Nigeria.

Recently, all officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Army were mandated to make full disclosure of their assets.

The Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, had stated that the directive on assets declaration was contained in a circular, signed by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hammed Ali and addressed to all deputy comptrollers-general, zonal coordinators and customs area controllers.

Real estate developers in Abuja told our correspondent on Saturday that although the directive was in order, most senior civil servants in Nigeria preferred to make property investments in Dubai, particularly.

According to them, the few who invest in Nigeria do not use their names when buying properties. Rather, government officials use the names of their family members and friends, they said.

The Chairman, Hortigraph Nigeria Limited, a Federal Capital Territory real estate firm, who doubles as the Chairman, Publicity Committee, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Ahmed Abubakar, told our correspondent that the property business in Nigeria had been down since the emergence of the new administration.

He said, “Most of the public servants do not buy houses with their names. They prefer using other names when acquiring properties and it is for reasons best known to them. Many of them use the names of their family, relatives and the rest.

“Also, most of their investments are in Dubai, they don’t invest more in Nigeria. Many of them prefer investing in foreign countries, particularly Dubai.

“As for the selling of properties, since the coming of this government, business has been slow and property sales have dropped. This is because the market has been so stranded because of the economic crisis we are facing in Nigeria today.”

When asked whether the number of properties offered up for sale had increased lately, Abubakar replied, “No, not really. It is not true that a lot of buildings or estate have been auctioned. Even if there are, where is the money to acquire them?

“The business has been slow and realtors are even looking for buyers for the properties on ground, not to talk of adding more, whether through auction or by whatever means.”

Another estate developer and an official of REDAN, who asked not to be named, told our correspondent that dealers usually got interested buyers, but most of these potential buyers lack financial wherewithal.

On whether civil servants were auctioning their properties, the official said, “The market is already saturated, so whether they auction their properties or not, the fact is that the economy hardly supports the sale and purchase of buildings, particularly in Abuja as we speak.”