How Tinubu’s Son Paid $11m for UK Property Seized by FG Over Corruption :inks — Report
Seyi Tinubu, the son of Nigeria’s President-elect Bola Tinubu, has been linked to a United Kingdom (UK) firm which paid $11 million for a London property that was previously seized from an oil magnate accused of fraud.
According to a report published by Bloomberg, Seyi, a 37-year-old who is into the outdoor advertising in Lagos, paid for the property in 2017.
The report, published on Tuesday, May 2, said Seyi completed the purchase through the help of an offshore shell company Aranda Overseas Corporation. The transaction was organised by Deutsche Bank.
The three-floor property in St. John’s Wood, a posh part of North London, has an eight-car driveway, two gardens, electric gates and a gym.
The President-elect’s son, through the offshore company, Aranda Overseas Corporation, paid £9 million ($10.8 million) to Deutsche Bank for the mansion, which sits on a 7,000-square-foot land and was under investigation after seizure by the Nigerian government due to its link to fraud proceeds acquired by a Nigerian businessman, Kola Aluko.
Aluko paid $15 million for the house in 2013, indicating that it was sold four years later for less money, which is unusual in such a posh area.
Bloomberg further reported that Seyi is the primary shareholder of Aranda Overseas Corporation.
Bloomberg said it could not immediately find indications that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, 71, was involved in the purchase. However, the affair could strengthen critics’ arguments that outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari was transferring stolen assets he seized from cronies of his predecessor to his own cronies.
The London property linked to Seyi was reportedly previously purchased from about $2 billion Aluko allegedly stole from the Nigerian treasury through shady oil deals.
Aluko, 53, and a former minister of petroleum resources Dieziani Alison-Madueke, 62, have been on the run since 2015 when they were accused of multiple frauds by the Federal Government.
Some of their ill-gotten loot had been previously located by authorities in the United States and Europe.
According to Peoples Gazette, Seyi Tinubu did not respond to a request seeking comments about the London property.
Allegations of Public corruption and drug dealing have followed Tinubu around for years.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initially filed narcotics charges against him in the 1990s, and in September 1993, he was ordered to forfeit at least $460,000 to the United States government.
Tinubu has defended his innocence and blamed his political rivals for allegations of misconduct.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress winner of the February 25 presidential election, ahead of 17 other candidates.
According to the result released by INEC, Tinubu scored a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled a total of 6,984,520 votes, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), who came third with 6,101,533 votes.
