Victor EzejaNine years after the prosecution of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, began, a new investigation has revealed how millions of dollars were invested in American luxury real estate linked to him and his allies.
Dasuki, who served as NSA to former President Goodluck Jonathan and briefly to Muhammadu Buhari (2012 to July 2015), was charged with diverting billions of naira meant to buy weapons for the fight against Boko Haram terrorists in the country at the time.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe investigation published on Wednesday, 13th November 2024 by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF), revealed that millions of dollars budgeted for national security were allegedly stolen and invested in luxury real estate in Los Angeles, California, and in McLean, Virginia, a highbrow area in Washington, DC.
PPLAAF said it received and forensically analysed thousands of property documents, company registration materials, bank transaction records, and court documents both from Nigeria and the United States which all revealed that funds used in purchasing the luxury properties came from Dasuki’s close associates, Robert and Mimie Oshodin, the owner of a furniture company.
Robert Oshodin is a Nigerian furniture manufacturer based in the United States, with his wife, Mimie.
PPLAAF said the investigation showed that the family received at least $27 million from Dasuki’s office through their company that was invested in real estate in US.
“Our investigation uncovers that the ongoing struggle for accountability in Nigeria is worsened when countries like the US turn a blind eye to corruption. Something has really gone wrong when those entrusted with protecting their citizens instead siphon off money for personal gain,” said Jimmy Kande, PPLAAF’s West Africa Director. “The US can and should do better, both morally and legally,” he added.
Prime Business Africa recalls that President Buhari had in 2015, a few months after he assumed office, fired Dasuki and ordered his arrest, following complaints of cases of graft allegedly involving the then NSA.
The government had alleged that Dasuki awarded fake contracts worth more than $2 billion, between 2012 and 2015, for fighter jets, helicopters, bombs, and ammunition that were never supplied to the Nigerian Air Force. This came to be commonly referred to as Dasukigate.
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The charges against Dasuki followed an interim report by a committee investigating arms procurement for Nigeria’s military.
We also recall that in 2018, Nigerian law enforcement informed US authorities about the allegations against Dasuki and the Oshodin family, urging the Department of Justice to follow the money. However, the Oshodin couple continued to buy and sell additional homes.
The Ex-NSA was said to have had two children in the US who were under the care of Robert and Mimie Oshodin at the time.
The report further stated that the Oshodin couple spent approximately $24 million on real estate in the US as Dasuki kept making fund transfers to the family within his three years in office.
“The largest of these real estate transactions was for the purchase of a USD 9.5 million mansion in Los Angeles the very same day Dasuki’s office transferred USD 12 million into an account held in the name of the Oshodin couple’s furniture business in Nigeria,” PPLAAT said.
“According to court filings obtained by PPLAAF, the Oshodin couple stored tens of millions of dollars of jewelry in a mansion in Los Angeles, including a ring worth over USD 3 million, and millions in furnishing and antiquities,” it further stated.
The group expressed concerns that after Nigerian law enforcement informed US authorities about the allegations against Dasuki and the Oshodin couple, calling for a thorough investigation, the couple continued to engage in the real estate business.
This, it said, raised questions about the United States’ effort to keep dirty money out of its property market.
“Equally concerning, the Nigerian government is still struggling to recover assets and prosecute cases linked to the Dasukigate scandal, with significant coordination issues and judicial delays. The Dasukigate scandal thus remains a critical test for Nigeria’s commitment to fighting corruption” the group further stated.
PPLAAT said it shared insights from the materials and its findings with The Washington Post in the US and Premium Times in Nigeria which also published stories about the alleged graft.
Some of the documents that investigators found indicated that the office of NSA had sometime in 2014 made a single transfer of $12 million to Mr and Mrs Oshidin’s account for the “provision of counter-radicalisation campaign.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had indicted the couple on 25 counts of money laundering. Mimie Oshodin. While Mimie Oshodin was arrested for the materials, Mr Robert was nowhere to be found. Mimie, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was granted bail in the sum of N250 million.
The trials had since stalled.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
