Report Links 61 Nigerian Officials to $271m US Property Portfolio

A new anti corruption investigation has linked 61 current and former senior Nigerian officials, their relatives, associates and companies to 284 properties in the United States valued at nearly $271 million. The findings are contained in a report by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) and the Anti Corruption Data Collective (ACDC). The investigation examined properties acquired over several decades and raised questions about how some of the money used to purchase them was obtained.

According to the report, 152 of the properties, worth about $177 million, were acquired while the officials linked to them were still in public office. Investigators also found that 230 properties, representing about 81% of the total, were purchased without any apparent financing, with a combined value of approximately $232 million. The report said these transactions raised potential money laundering concerns and called for further investigation into the sources of the funds.

The investigation identified properties connected to officials from different parts of government, including the security sector, executive and legislative branches, state governments and state-owned enterprises. Among the individuals named in the investigation are former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, former pension task force chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, former Abia State Governor Orji Kalu, former Aviation Minister Stella Oduah, former JAMB Registrar Dibu Ojerinde, and several other current and former public officials.

The report said 39 of the 61 individuals examined have previously been publicly accused, indicted or sentenced in corruption related cases. However, being named in the property investigation does not by itself establish that a particular property was purchased with proceeds of corruption. The investigators say they assessed properties individually and required multiple independent links before attributing them to individuals.

Investigators also identified cases where companies and intermediaries were allegedly used to make ownership more difficult to establish. In some transactions, properties were reportedly purchased through US registered companies connected to Nigerian businesses. PPLAAF said the findings could point to a wider problem involving the movement of potentially illicit funds across international borders and into foreign property markets.

The organisation’s executive director, Jimmy Kande, called for Nigerian and US authorities to investigate the transactions, establish the sources of the money used to acquire the properties and recover any assets proven to have been bought with stolen public funds. The investigation also highlighted the security sector, saying large defence and security expenditures had created opportunities for opaque procurement and financial transactions.

The report described the properties identified as potentially only part of a much larger picture and argued that corruption involving public funds has consequences for ordinary Nigerians, including the availability of infrastructure and public services. PPLAAF and ACDC have called for stronger cooperation between Nigerian and American authorities, particularly in tracing suspicious assets, preventing their transfer during investigations and recovering properties where courts establish that they were acquired illegally.

Nigeria’s anti graft agency, the EFCC, did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on the report, while presidential spokesman Daniel Bwala said the government supports efforts to fight corruption and cooperate with US authorities. The findings are now putting fresh attention on the movement of Nigerian wealth into foreign property markets and the challenges involved in tracing and recovering assets allegedly linked to corruption.