Amidst rising Nigeria’s housing challenges, RevolutionPlus’ stalled Lekki project puts diaspora investors at risk

In 2020, when Alex Adelesoye, a medical practitioner based in the Middle East, saw an advertisement for Flourish Apartments and Terraces on social media, he thought he had found a rare chance to finally own a home in Nigeria. Like many Nigerians abroad, he longed for a place to call a “country home.”

Promoted by RevolutionPlus Property, the project located along Orchid road, Lekki, was marketed as a premium residential development with a clear delivery timeline of 12 months. Almost six years on, Mr Adelesoye is still waiting for a terrace apartment he paid for in 2020.

“Like many others abroad, I wanted a place to call home in Nigeria. What we didn’t bargain for was years of waiting without results,” he told DevReporting.

What was marketed as a high-end residential development has since become the focus of petitions to regulatory agencies, complaints to government authorities, and an ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), raising serious concerns about investors’ protection in Nigeria’s real estate sector.

Unending delays

Mr Adelesoye says the tone of engagement changed immediately after payments were made. He said, “Instead of delivering a finished apartment, we were met with repeated requests for additional payments. Subscribers complied in the hope that delivery would finally happen.”

His experience mirrors those of several other investors.

Flourish Apartments Gate

Another investor, Tariekeidieye Isaac, whose family is based in the United States, had initially planned to use the multi-million naira paid to RevolutionPlus to secure a home abroad for his family through mortgage. He instead invested in a property in Lagos, only to be left without a three bedroom terrace he paid for.

“This is a huge disincentive to investment in Nigeria. Many investors have been badly burnt, with no decisive action from regulators. As of today, I have no keys, no house, and no clear explanation. It has been emotionally and financially draining,” he told DevReporting.

From the United States, another subscriber, Prince Yellowe, said his ₦65 million investment has yielded nothing tangible years after payment. “The dream of owning property back home has turned into a nightmare,” he said.

What documents show

Documents obtained by DevReporting show that RevolutionPlus initially promised delivery within a year, later setting December 2022 as a final deadline. That date passed without completion, while site visits by subscribers revealed minimal progress.

“They kept moving the goalposts,” Mr Adelesoye said. “Each time a deadline approached, there was a new excuse.”

Repeated requests for additional payments after full payment were also a source of contention. These were described as “cost variations,” “inflation adjustments,” or “goodwill contributions.”

Another subscriber, Abolomope Rasheed, said he purchased a plot of land from RevolutionPlus in the same year he subscribed to the Flourish Apartments. Five years later, he said he had not been shown the land, received a survey, or obtained proof of ownership.

Front view of Flourish Apartments

Petitions to Lagos govt

Eight frustrated investors petitioned the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA) in October 2024, explaining that they had paid over ₦400 million as the full cost of properties they subscribed to with RevolutionPlus since 2021 without delivery. The petitions warned that stalled projects were not only financially damaging to investors but were harming Lagos State’s credibility with diaspora investors. Despite these efforts, no progress has been made on the delivery of the project.

Established by the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority Law 2022, to bring law and order into the real estate sector in the State, LASRERA’s mandates include regulating real estate practitioners, curbing fraudulent practices, and enforcing transparency.

According to Sections 6 and 7 of the Law, the agency is empowered to investigate complaints, mediate disputes arising from property transactions between agents and prospective tenants, agents and property owners, developers and landowners, developers and prospective tenants, and any other matter in relation to a real estate transaction.

Meanwhile, based on the provisions of section 35 (4) of the Law, LASRERA lacks the jurisdiction to investigate or handle matters involving fraud or obtaining by pretense, as such matters shall be forwarded to the Police for investigation.

LASRERA is expected to be a powerful dispute-resolution platform, offering a quicker, more cost-effective, and less adversarial alternative to traditional court battles.

DevReporting contacted LASRERA through its known official phone numbers for comments, but all five numbers were unreachable. Our reporter also visited LASRERA’s office at the Lagos State Secretariat on Wednesday, 28 January, where an official, who requested anonymity due to a lack of authority to speak to the media, briefly responded.

“All matters will be resolved accordingly. We are doing our best,” the official said.

EFCC’s involvements

With little progress via regulatory channels, investors escalated the matter to the EFCC, which commenced investigations into alleged contract breaches and possible fund diversion. Under EFCC supervision, subscribers were again persuaded to make additional “goodwill” payments for project completion.

“We felt abandoned,” Mr. Yellowe said. “We followed due process, but nothing changed.”

In a document signed in May 2025 and an email circulated to subscribers in October, RevolutionPlus assured investors that delivery would occur by December 2025. That deadline too has passed without a headway.

Following renewed complaints, EFCC officials visited the Flourish Apartments site on 12 January, signalling a possible escalation of the probe. Sources within the EFCC told DevReporting that investigators are examining fund flows and compliance with earlier undertakings.

Speaking officially with our reporter on Thursday, 29 January, EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said the petitioners are assured of justice.

“Our focus on tackling real estate fraud is defined. We are always telling members of the public to report infractions because that sector is prone to corruption, and we are very concerned about it. Since petitions have been submitted, the petitioners should be sure that we will do the needful and sort out all that needs to be done. They will get justice on this. The global view of real estate is open to money laundering and a number of dubious practices and we will do more to sanitise the sector.”

Company’s response

Mr Bamidele Onalaja

When contacted for comment, the Managing Director of RevolutionPlus, Bamidele Onalaja, claimed that work was ongoing at the site but declined to explain the reasons for the prolonged delays.

“My advice is for you to visit the site and see the massive ongoing work and the massive project. I have nothing more to say than that,” he said in a text message to DevReporting.

Current state of some apartments at Flourish estate

Past controversies

This is not the first time RevolutionPlus has faced public scrutiny. The company has previously been linked to disputes involving delayed deliveries and failed refunds across multiple projects. Though it has consistently denied wrongdoing.

In September 2025, a Lagos resident identified simply as Joseph, accused the company of refusing to refund his ₦3 million investment several months after it matured.

In May 2025, a businessman from Ogun State alleged that after paying ₦700,000 for an estate subscription, he later discovered the project was already fully subscribed. Several years on, he said no refund had been made.

Also, in 2024, a viral video showed a client, Kayode Oladipo, accusing RevolutionPlus of defrauding him after he paid the company to acquire land on his behalf. He said the experience left him homeless after years of working abroad.

A Lagos-based lawyer, Olarewaju Momodu, warned that repeated and unresolved disputes across property projects are red flags.

“When complaints follow a developer across multiple projects, regulators must pay closer attention,” he said, adding that, “The Flourish Apartments case highlights systemic weaknesses in real estate enforcement. Once a developer collects full payment and fails to deliver within the agreed timeline, the matter can move beyond a civil breach into potential criminal liability if diversion of funds or fraudulent intent is established.”

Flourish Estate

Housing crisis beyond flourish apartments

The controversy surrounding the stalled Flourish Apartments project cannot be examined in isolation. It unfolds against the backdrop of Nigeria’s deepening housing crisis, particularly in Lagos, where demand continues to far outstrip supply.

According to the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Nigeria’s housing deficit currently stands at about 15 million units, driven by rapid population growth, urbanisation, rising construction costs, and weak housing delivery systems.

Lagos State bears a disproportionate share of the crisis. Estimates put the state’s housing shortfall at approximately 3.4 million units, making it Nigeria’s most housing-stressed urban centre.

The scale of this deficit has made Lagos a magnet for real estate developers and for diaspora Nigerians seeking to invest in property back home.

Real estate analysts say stalled or abandoned projects like Flourish Apartments worsen the housing shortage by trapping billions of naira in uncompleted developments. Beyond financial losses, such failures erode investor confidence and discourage future diaspora participation in Nigeria’s housing market, further constraining supply in a city already grappling with severe accommodation pressure.

“This experience has discouraged many of us from ever investing in Nigeria again,” Mr. Tariedikeye lamented. “That is the real tragedy.”

Not just RevolutionPlus

In a widely reported dispute, the Enugu State Government accused Olasijibomi Ogundele, the CEO of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, of breaching contract terms and allegedly diverting public funds intended for the construction of 22 Smart Green Schools across the state. The contract, worth over ₦11 billion, was reportedly awarded in mid-2024 with a six-month completion timeline. However, work allegedly lagged, and the contractor received substantial advance payments without delivering the project as agreed.

According to government statements, the contractor was accused of shoddy work and failing to meet structural specifications at the project sites, leaving many locations incomplete long after deadlines had passed. As a result, the Enugu government petitioned the EFCC, which declared the Sujimoto CEO wanted on allegations of fund diversion and money laundering, and later recovered about ₦1.23 billion from the company to return to the state.

In a separate case, EFCC in 2025 arraigned an Abuja real estate developer, Rebecca Godwin-Isaac, also known as Bilkisu Aliyu, over a scheme involving alleged forged land documents, fraud, and money laundering totalling about N800 million.

Multiple prospective buyers reportedly paid substantial sums for properties that did not exist, prompting an EFCC investigation and efforts to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Wider implications

These cases reflect a deeper trust deficit that has broader implications for Nigeria’s investment climate. Foreign Direct Investment (FPI), which is widely regarded as a key indicator of long-term investor confidence, has struggled to find a stable footing in the country.

The recent report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that FPI accounted for 92.25 per cent ($5.2 billion) of total capital importation in Q1 2025, while Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) represented only 2.24 per cent ($126.3 million).

Experts attribute weak FDI flows not only to macroeconomic and policy challenges but also to perceived structural risks such as regulatory uncertainty, corruption, legal bottlenecks, and unpredictable enforcement of contracts. A recent academic analysis confirms that high levels of corruption and weak regulatory quality reduce FDI inflows, raising transaction costs and increasing uncertainty for foreign investors.

To fix this, experts say Nigeria needs deeper reforms to draw in investors willing to stick around and support broader, sustainable growth.

CREDIT: This article was first published by Devreporting