Mansions of ‘corrupt Nigerians’ exposed ahead of Buhari’s visit to London

Luxurious mansions owned by some Nigerians, including those standing trial for corruption, in the United Kingdom, have been exposed.

President Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Magu, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), are billed to depart Nigeria on Tuesday for an anti-graft summit in London.

In a report entitled: ‘Palaces of Corruption’, The Mail on Sunday, published pictures and locations of houses belonging to two late former governors, who faced graft charges in their lifetime.

They are Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who governed Bayelsa state between 1999 and 2005, and Abubakar Audu, two-term governor of Kogi state, who was seeking a return to the government house at the time of his death.

Both men died in 2015.

The property of James Ibori, former Delta state governor, who is currently serving a jail term, was also included in the report, in addition to that of Jimoh Ibrahim, lawyer and billionaire businessman.

Nigerians were not the only ones listed in the report.

The children of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan dictator; Omar Bongo, late president of Gabon; Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s leader; and Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Kyrgyzstan president, were also included.

“Properties bought with dirty money often sit empty for long periods. Those living nearby have no idea who their neighbours are, undermining any sense of community. Most importantly, those properties are taken off the market, further squeezing housing supply,” the report read.

Nigerians are known to have properties in choice locations across the world.

Recently, Süddeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, obtained documents, #Panama Papers, that exposed how over 100 Nigerians stashed billions in tax havens.