spot_img
spot_img

Former Lagos House of Assembly speaker linked with property in Burj Khalifa, world’s tallest building

A FORMER Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Adeyemi Sabitun Ikuforiji, has been linked with a property in Burj Khalifa, world’s tallest building, located in the heart of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Mr Ikuforiji, an economist, was the speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly between 2005 and 2015.

This investigation came to light as part of a project named “Dubai Unlocked,” which is a six-month investigation into the UAE’s booming and secretive property market led by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) together with more than 70 media partners.

Economy Post is the only Nigerian media organisation that participated in the 2022 project. Based on the findings, Mr Ikuforiji’s property, located at Burj Khalifa, is valued at $689,950.81. Its property number is 10216938. According to documents seen by Economy Post, the Nigerian address registered against the property is 47, Joel Ogunnaike Street, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.

READ ALSO: Tafa Balogun, ex-IGP, is dead but his eight Dubai properties are still alive

The documents show that Mr Ikuforiji was born on August 24, 1958, and is linked with a flat in the world’s tallest building.

Mr Ikuforiji’s EFCC’s case

Mr Ikuforiji was in court with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for 13 years over alleged N338.8m money laundering. He was, however, discharged and acquitted by the Federal High Court in Lagos on June 24, 2024. Justice Mohammed Liman held that the EFCC failed to prove its case against him and his former aide, Mr Oyebode Atoyebi, beyond reasonable doubt.

“Charging a person under a law that was non-existent at the time of an alleged offence runs foul of the law. The Money Laundering Prohibition Act of 2004/2011 requires clear evidence of intent and the actual act of laundering money,” Justice Liman held.

“It is difficult to prove the offence of money laundering without the predicate offence; the prosecution has failed to prove this.

READ ALSO: Former NEMA boss sacked for corruption owns $591,000 property in Dubai

“The prosecution has not proved the offence of money laundering beyond a reasonable doubt. Consequently, the defendants are acquitted of all the allegations of money laundering levelled against them in courts two to 54 of the charge,” the judge added.

Politcians with Burj Khalifa properties

Mr Ikuforiji is not the only politician with properties in Burj Khalifa, which has 2,957 parking spaces, 304 hotel rooms, 163 floors and 900 apartments. Vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Mr Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, owns properties in Burj Khalifa, Al Yelayiss, Al Barsha South Fourth, and Town Square Safi 2 – all in Dubai.

Former Kaduna State governor, Mr Ahmed Markafi, is linked with $$822,016 properties at Burj Khalifa, among others. The report did not say that the properties were purchased with stolen or illegal funds.

Politicians, others with expensive Dubai properties

Economy Post had earlier reported that $8.042 million worth of properties were linked to former Governor of Sokoto State, Mr  Attahiru Bafarawa.  Sokoto is Nigeria’s most multidimensionally poor state, with a poverty rate of 91 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Economy Post also reported that a couple who ran a Ponzi scheme in Nigeria and defrauded 27 investors of their hard-earned N18.88 billion have own choice properties in Marina Vista Tower 2 and Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

READ ALSO: BUSTED: Couple who scammed 27 Nigerian investors of N19bn owns choice properties in Dubai

Though the value of the two properties was not stated, real estate experts suggest they are worth over $1 million. The dates of purchase were also not stated in the documents.

Bamise Ajetunmobi and his wife, Elizabeth, were ordered by the Lagos High Court presided over by Justice Toyin Oyekan-Abdullahi on July 15, 2022, to pay N18.88 billion to 27 aggrieved investors who filed a fraud suit against them and their company, Imagine Global Solution Limited.

It was also reported that late Mr Mustapha Adebayo Balogun, Nigeria’s former inspector-general of police (IGP), has eight properties in Dubai – even after his death. Mr Balogun’s eight properties at Marsa Dubai and Lake City are estimated at $1.4 million, according to Economy Post’s calculations.

Also, a former Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Muhammed Sani-Sidi, who was sacked by former President Muhammadu Buhari for corruption, has a property in Dubai valued at $590, 807Economy Post gathered.

Mr Sidi-Sani and seven of the agency’s directors were sacked by former President Buhari in 2018 for allegedly committing acts of corruption. They were were accused of stealing over N1 billion, $284,000 and £95,000.

READ ALSO: REVEALED: Seven Dubai properties linked to Attahiru Bafarawa, former governor of Nigeria’s poorest state, valued at N12bn

Mr Ikuforiji did not respond to Economy Post‘s questions regarding the ownership of the property and when it was acquired. A WhatsApp message sent to him was not even though he read it.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here


Recent

More like this