Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu, who will take office on May 29, 2023, has been linked to at least 20 properties in the United Kingdom.
These properties were mostly purchased during Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos State.
Tinubu, known as a major political kingmaker in Nigeria, was instrumental in the election of several governors, including the current president, Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Bloomberg, his son, Oluwaseyi, is the primary shareholder of Aranda Overseas Corporation, an offshore company that purchased a contentious $10.8 million UK property in 2017.
Premium Times, an Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) Nigeria partner, discovered over a dozen properties linked to Tinubu, primarily acquired during his tenure as governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007.
Tinubu’s spokesperson has not responded to these revelations.
At the time one of the properties was purchased, Nigeria was attempting to seize a London home owned by a Nigerian oil dealer who was facing corruption charges in both Nigeria and the United States.
Steve Goodrich, head of research and investigations at Transparency International UK, said;
If there are reasonable grounds to suspect these assets were bought with criminal funds, then they should be investigated.
He went on to say that owning property through offshore companies is frequently done for the sake of secrecy.
The link between Tinubu and various offshore companies has been revealed thanks to the Register of Overseas Entities, a new UK measure that identifies the true owners of offshore firms with property in the country.
Through three offshore companies, Oladipo Eludoyin, a director of Aranda Overseas Corporation and the founding director of Aranda Resources Limited, is linked to 17 UK properties.
These properties were acquired between 2004 and 2007, during Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos State.
His son’s Aranda Overseas Corporation purchased Flat 10A in the same building in 2011. Tinubu’s associate, Oladipo Eludoyin, a director of Aranda Overseas Corporation, signed the lease agreement.
Eludoyin is also the founding director of Aranda Resources Limited, a Nigerian registered company in which Aranda Overseas Corporation owns a majority stake.
Several Nigerian politicians, including Babatunde Fashola, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Adegboyega Oyetola, have ties to Aranda Resources Limited and Aranda Overseas Corporation.
These politicians, according to the publication, have not responded to requests for comment on the matter.