A new investigation has identified 284 properties in the United States with a combined estimated value of nearly $271 million that are linked to 61 serving and former senior Nigerian government officials, their relatives, associates and companies connected to them.
The findings were uncovered in a joint investigation by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC).
The organisations presented the findings in Abuja on Tuesday during the launch of their report titled, “Nigeria: Dirty Deeds — How Top Nigerian Officials Bought a Piece of America.”
According to the report, the properties were purchased from 1991 onward. Of the total holdings, 152 properties valued at approximately $177 million reportedly changed ownership while the officials linked to them were still in government.
How the properties were acquired
PPLAAF said 230 of the 284 properties, representing about 81% of the total, were acquired without any apparent financing. Their combined value was estimated at about $232 million.
The investigation also highlighted the use of companies and intermediaries that could make it difficult to determine the actual owners of some properties.
In 12 cases, the report found that Nigerian officials allegedly used entities registered in the United States that appeared to have connections with their Nigerian businesses to purchase, hold or dispose of properties.
Investigators further raised concerns over some real estate professionals involved in the transactions. According to the report, some allegedly failed to properly verify identification documents, while others accepted transactions carried out in the names of people who were already deceased.
The findings, according to the investigators, point to potential weaknesses in oversight within the US property market.
Officials named in the investigation
The report stated that 39 of the 61 people examined had previously been publicly accused, indicted or convicted in corruption-related cases.
Among those identified were 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 former NNPC Group Chief Operating Officer Ronald Ewubare.
The report’s identification of individuals and properties does not, by itself, establish that every property was acquired with proceeds of corruption.
Calls for investigation and asset recovery
PPLAAF Executive Director Jimmy Kande described the findings as unprecedented in scale and urged authorities in Nigeria and the United States to investigate the transactions.
“At an unprecedented scale, these findings expose the failings of individual officials and the structural gaps that allow stolen public wealth to cross borders and settle quietly into foreign real estate,” Kande said.
“The purchases, transfers, and sales documented here could amount to international money laundering and must be investigated as such. Nigerian and American authorities must work together to ensure these assets are returned to the people they were taken from.”
The report recommended that authorities investigate the sources of money used for the identified property transactions and improve collaboration between financial-crime agencies and law-enforcement bodies in both countries.
It also called for systems that would allow assets established to have been purchased with stolen public funds to be recovered and returned to Nigeria.
