ECONOMIC CORRUPTION:

Nigerian Governor of Kebbi State, ABUBAKAR ATIKU BAGUDU traced to 8 Luxurious Properties in Dubai worth over $4.8 million-Sandcastles data Investigation, UAE

…building located on twelfth floor of Dubai’s Capital Bay Towers development

* Helped Nigeria’s former head of state Sani Abacha embezzle billions of dollars from government coffers–Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

* ‘How Bagudu and Sani Abacha’s son, Mohammed Abacha, at greatly inflated prices, generated and shared a $282 million windfall’–Court document

*Arrested and extradited from Houston, Texas at the request of New Jersey, where Bagudu had set up a shell company called Doraville Properties to launder funds stolen from Nigeria

* Begged for settlement, reached an agreement to return $160 million of stolen money in exchange for deportation to Nigeria to face trial

* Governor Bagudu reportedly claims innocence, says ‘I am not guilty of any corruption’

*BY ISSA AHMED/SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING, reporting live from UAE

THIS IS CERTAINLY not the best for Kebbi State governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu as several documents sighted and perused by our correspondent showed that the Dubai government may be

closing-in on the politician finances in view of the profound investigation being conducted into the eight properties he allegedly acquired in Dubai at a whooping sum of over $4.8million.

According to one of these documents thoroughly investigated by Sandcastles data in United Arab Emirate (UAE), it revealed that Bagudu—a key ruling party figure, current governor of Kebbi State, and political godfather of Nigeria’s attorney general—is well-known to international law enforcement agencies around the world. He is alleged to be affiliated with eight properties worth over $4.8 million in total on the twelfth floor of Dubai’s Capital Bay Towers development.

“The former Senator for the Kebbi Central constituency, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu is affiliated with eight properties worth over $4.8 million in total on the twelfth floor of Dubai’s Capital Bay Towers development,” says Sandcastles data document.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, another body monitoring corruption in the Middle-east revealed that this incumbent governor helped Nigeria’s former head of state, Sani Abacha to embezzle billions of dollars from government coffers. While Abacha was accused of stealing more than $2.2 billion of public funds during his five-year tenure as Nigerian president in the 1990s, Bagudu was arrested and extradited from Houston, Texas at the request of Jersey, where Bagudu had set up a shell company called Doraville Properties to launder funds stolen from Nigeria.

He eventually pleaded, reached a settlement, when he agreed to return $160 million of stolen money in exchange for deportation to Nigeria to face trial. Yes, he returned the $160 million of stolen money but allegedly refused to turn himself in for prosecution in Nigeria.

Bagudu was subsequently arrested and kept in federal detention for six months while awaiting extradition to Jersey to answer questions about funds traced to the account of Doraville Properties Corp. a company managed by Mr Bagudu and Mohammed, with accounts at Deutsche Bank International, Jersey.

But before he was handed over to authorities at Jersey, Bagudu quickly negotiated a deal with the US and Jersey authorities to “return more than $163 million of the allegedly laundered assets to Nigeria in exchange for Jersey’s withdrawal of the extradition request and his return to Nigeria,” a court document obtained by PREMIUM TIMES revealed.

The court document is a January 2019 ruling of a US District Court of Columbia between the US government versus the assets held in Doraville Properties Account 80020796 at Deutsche Bank, represented by Ibrahim, who is the only person still laying claim to the $287 million in the account.

The court document explained that after the US government filed a civil forfeiture of the assets in the said account, several people made claims to the assets all of which were struck out.

“The only remaining third-party claim in this litigation is Bagudu’s (Ibrahim) asserted claim to certain defendant assets, which is based on an annuity he receives from investment portfolios in which the defendant assets are held.”

Bagudu helped Nigeria’s former head of state Sani Abacha embezzle billions of dollars from government coffers in the mid to late 1990s, according to U.S. court filings. Bagudu has categorically denied all corruption allegations against him. A 1998 Nigerian government investigative panel described how Bagudu and his accomplices siphoned these funds:

General Sani Abacha directed Ismaïla Gwarzo, his National Security Adviser, to present him with false funding requests for security operations or equipment, which he had the power to authorize. For the most part, the funds were directly remitted in cash (US$1.131 billion and [British pound sterling] GBP 413 million) or in traveler’s cheques (US$50 million and GBP 3.5 million) by the CBN [Central Bank] to Ismaïla Gwarzo, who then had most of the funds taken to [Abacha’s] house. From there they were taken by his oldest son, Mohammed Abacha, and laundered through Nigerian banks or by Nigerian or foreign businessmen to offshore accounts belonging to Mohammed Abacha, Abba Abacha, Abdulkadir Abacha and Abubakar [Atiku] Bagudu. . . . At least US$1.491 billion and GBP 416 million had thus been found by the [panel] to have been embezzled by the Abacha criminal organization.54

In another reported fraud scheme, Sani Abacha and his finance minister reportedly purchased government debt from a company controlled by Bagudu and Sani Abacha’s son, Mohammed Abacha, at greatly inflated prices, generating a $282 million windfall for the two men

Nevertheless, the Nigerian government entered into a settlement agreement with Bagudu in 2003, which resolved all of the country’s claims against him in exchange for the relinquishment and return of certain assets to Nigeria. This cleared a path for him to enter civilian politics and win two senate elections (2009 and 2011) and two gubernatorial elections (2015 and 2019). When provided with an opportunity to comment on his possible connection to property in Dubai, Bagudu did not respond.

Bagudu was a known associate of former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, who was accused of stealing more than $2.2 billion of public funds during his five-year tenure as Nigerian president in the 1990s. In 2003, Bagudu was arrested and extradited from Houston, Texas at the request of Jersey, where Bagudu had set up a shell company called Doraville Properties to launder funds stolen from Nigeria. Bagudu eventually reached a settlement, agreeing to return $160 million of stolen money in exchange for deportation to Nigeria to face trial.

Despite the considerable evidence from legal authorities in the U.S., Jersey, and Switzerland, Bagudu was never questioned after returning to Nigeria. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the repatriation of $480 million stolen by Sani Abacha and his co-conspirators. In its complaint, the U.S. government alleged that Sani Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha, their associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and others “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions of dollars from the government of Nigeria and others, then laundered their criminal proceeds through U.S. financial institutions and the purchase of bonds backed by the United States.”

In February 2020, the U.S. government entered into a trilateral agreement with Nigeria and Jersey to repatriate over $300 million in additional money that Bagudu played a role in stealing during the Abacha regime. The U.S. announced that it was continuing to seek forfeiture of over $177 million in additional laundered funds held in trusts that name Bagudu and his relatives as beneficiaries. Bagudu is immune from prosecution while governor.

Bagudu succeeded Adamu Aliero when he won the by-election for the Kebbi Central Senatorial seat following Aliero’s appointment to become the Minister for FCT. In the 6 April 2011 elections, Bagudu won for the PDP with 173,595 votes. His predecessor Adamu Aliero, who had moved to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), came second with 137,299 votes and Aliyu Bello Mohammed of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) trailed with 11,953 votes.

During the 2015 General Elections, Bagudu then moved from the ruling PDP to the All Progressive Congress (APC) and contested for the Governorship, winning a landslide victory in the polls.

In the 9 March 2019 Kebbi state governorship election Bagudu polled 673,717 votes, while his rival Sen. Isah Galaudu of PDP polled 106,633 votes

Long before he was elected governor, prosecutors in the United States and the United Kingdom said Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State was a bagman for the infamous late military dictator, Sani Abacha.

Abacha, who died in 1998, was a relentless kleptocrat who stole an estimated $2.2 billion from the country’s coffers.

Court documents revealed that Mr Bagudu was the gas that powered Mr Abacha’s extensive money laundering operations. Working with some members of his own family, top members of the regime and Mohammed, Mr Abacha’s eldest son, prosecutors claimed the governor used an intricate network of phoney companies to siphon several millions of dollars from government treasury into offshore bank accounts operated by himself and the Abachas.

Although British and American investigators believe Mr Bagudu’s money-laundering operation spread across multiple jurisdictions and was broad, he needed the assistance of his wife and elder brother, Ibrahim. His preferred destination for concealing the illicit funds on behalf of the Abachas was Jersey.

Bagudu’s attraction to Jersey was also the cause of his trouble.

In 2003, five years after the death of Mr Abacha, it became clear that the military tyrant stole billions of dollars from the country’s treasury. Because some of these illicit funds were traced to Jersey, authorities of the Island nation requested the help of US authorities to arrest and extradite Mr Bagudu, who at the time had lived in Texas for three years.

The release

Following the deal with Jersey and the US government, Mr Bagudu was released on bond and repatriated to Nigeria to face trial. Evidence gathered in Jersey and in Switzerland were also sent to Nigeria to aid Nigeria’s Attorney General in his trial.

However, since his return, he has not been questioned over his involvement in the Abacha loot but was instead cleared to contest in three different election circles – one as a senator and two as governor – all of which he won.

Attempt to get the reaction of Bagudu did not yield any result a at press time.

Similarly, the Attorney-General of the Federation(AGF), Abubakar Malami, did not respond to our inquiry because we had wanted to know if he was aware of details of the deal Mr Bagudu negotiated with US and Jersey authorities.

We also wanted to ask Malami the whereabouts of the pieces of evidence sent to Nigerian authorities to aid the prosecution of Bagudu and whether the government will prosecute Mr Bagudu after his tenure expires. The AGF did not respond.

*Additional report by PREMIUM TIMES

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