Skip to main content

$20bn NNPC Fraud: EFCC Discovers Diezani's $37.5m Lagos Mansion


The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has discovered a $37.5m (N11.75bn) luxury high-rise building on Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, allegedly belonging to the embattled former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

This is just as the EFCC revealed on Friday that it discovered $9.3m and £74,000 belonging to a former Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu. The money was allegedly kept in a bungalow situated in the slums of Kaduna.

The two discoveries were made as part of investigations into a string of fraudulent activities in the NNPC, which cost the nation over $20bn at a time the oil price stood at about $100 per barrel on the average

According to impeccable sources within the EFCC, the building allegedly belonging to Diezani was purchased between 2011 and 2012. It is situated in the same estate where Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, resides.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that the building comprises 18 flats and six penthouses.

Properties on Banana Island are believed to be among the most expensive in Africa with a plot of land selling between $4m (N1.25bn) and $6m (N1.8bn), according to Forbes Magazine.

A source at the EFCC said, “The aggressive drive by the EFCC to recover all hidden assets of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is under investigation for corruption and money laundering, produced another breakthrough this week with the discovery of a property acquired through shell companies by the former minister at upscale Banana Island in Lagos.

“The property is a 15-storey edifice comprising 18 flats and six penthouses.

“The property was acquired by the former minister between 2011 and 2012 at a total cost of $37.5m from the developers, YF Construction Development and Real Estate.

The property was allegedly acquired in the name of a shell company, Rusimpex Limited under the control of certain Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi of Stillwaters law firm, in Lagos.”

Last year, the commission seized an $18m mansion in the Asokoro area of Abuja allegedly belonging to the ex-minister.

She has, however, denied all the allegations levelled against her.

Meanwhile, the commission has recovered $9.7m and £74,000 from a former GMD of the NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu.

Ironically, Yakubu, who served as the head of the corporation between 2012 and 2014, is the key witness of the EFCC against the Chairman of Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited, Jide Omokore, who is standing trial for an alleged $1.6bn fraud.

The EFCC said in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, that the money was found in a safe hidden in a slum in Kaduna State.

The statement read in part, “A special operation conducted by operatives of the EFCC on February 3, 2017 on a building belonging to a former Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Andrew Yakubu, in Kaduna yielded the recovery of a staggering sum of $9,772,800.

http://punchng.com/20bn-nnpc-fraud-efcc-discovers-diezanis-37-5m-lagos-mansion/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FG Secures $7.5bn Loan From China For Rail Project

The Federal Government has secured $7.5 billion loan for the construction of standard rail gauge from Lagos to Kano, an official has said. The $7.5 billion is part of the $30 billion loan the Federal Government seeks to take and for which it has sought approval from the National Assembly. The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who disclosed this on Monday at the North Central Town Hall meeting held in Ilorin for the people of Kogi, Niger and Kwara states, urged Nigerians to impress it on the National Assembly to approve the loan request so that the Federal Government can go ahead with the project. But the Senate in a statement by its spokesperson, Aliyu Abdullahi, on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the minister’s claim was not only false but misrepresenting and contradictory to available facts. It insisted that the minister must withdraw the claim. According to Amaechi, the loan was secured from a Chinese bank and the ministry is waiting for approval of the National Asse...
Post a Comment
Read more

Photo Of The Longest Yam In Nigeria Harvested In Delta State

This is a giant yellow yam called or okpai in ukwuani and igangan in yoruba. This yam was harvested at12 months old. It took the farmers three days to harvest the longest one. These yam was produced in umuaja, ukwuani local government, delta state, Nigeria.
Post a Comment
Read more

Presidency Staff On Standby For Buhari's Return

Presidential aides were on Friday put on standby over the imminent return of President Muhammadu Buhari from London, United Kingdom. Buhari, who left Nigeria on January 19, was initially scheduled to return to the country last Sunday in preparation for resumption to office last Monday. However, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, later issued a statement announcing that Buhari had notified the National Assembly of his decision to extend his vacation. Adesina had attributed the extension to the need for the President to wait behind and receive the results of medical tests which he had undergone on the advice of his doctors. Sources at the Presidential Villa, Abuja told one of our correspondents on Friday that Buhari was being expected this weekend. The sources said that presidential aides and officials of the Protocol Unit, as well as security operatives, had been put on the alert over the President’s imminent arrival. One of the so...
Post a Comment
Read more