32 Grove End Road in London, the upmarket property where APC godfather Bola Tinubu has been convalescing post-surgery, and where he has been receiving members of Nigeria's elite political class, including President Muhammadu Buhari, was reportedly acquired with corruption and money laundering proceeds.
All of this is contained in the worldwide Pandora Papers investigation headlined by Premium Times in Nigeria.
The Pandora Papers is a leak of almost 12 million documents that reveals hidden wealth, tax avoidance and, in some cases, money laundering by some of the world's rich and powerful.
The Pandora Papers details how rich and powerful individuals from across the world-- including more than 330 politicians from 90 countries--launder money by setting up businesses in tax havens like the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, as well as in countries like Switzerland and Singapore.
Oyetola's offshore connections
Premium Times reports that the swanky London property, which has become a Mecca of some sorts for Nigerian politicians propping up Tinubu for a 2023 presidential run, was bought for £11.95 million by Zavlil Holdings Ltd.
Zavlil Holdings Ltd is a shell company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, a notorious tax haven.
Documents obtained by Premium Times reveal that Zavlil Holdings Limited is owned by Kolawole Aluko, an international fugitive wanted by law enforcement in Nigeria and the United States for money laundering.
Aluko and his associate, Jide Omokore, were indicted in the U.S. and Nigeria for multi-million-dollar fraud and money laundering violations in cahoots with a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
In 2016, the Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria filed a Mareva injunction at a Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking to confiscate a list of properties belonging to Aluko and Omokore valued at $1.8 billion.
32 Grove End Road mansion was one of those properties.
With the London property the subject of a court injunction in Nigeria, Aluko sold the house at a heavily discounted rate of £9 million to Aranda Overseas Corporation, an offshore company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.
Aranda Overseas Corporation is owned by two of Tinubu’s trusted political allies--Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola and Elusanmi Eludoyin, according to the report.
The investigation reveals that Oyetola remained a shareholder and director at Aranda while serving as Chief of Staff to his predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola, thereby violating Nigeria’s laws.
In Nigeria, a person is statutorily obligated to withdraw from engaging in or directing a private business, besides farming, upon becoming a public officer, according to Section Six (6) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
Spokespersons for Tinubu, Buhari and Oyetola were yet to respond to details in the report at the time of filing this story.