A former chairman of the People's Democratic Party,
Adamu Muazu, has finally admitted that he is the owner of 16 Osborne Road in
Ikoyi, Lagos where agents of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently discovered a
hoard of $50 million in cash. Mr. Muazu
admitted to owning the building in a telephone conversation between his
London-based aide and Akin Oyegoke.
Nigerians, as well as other observers, have been
scandalized since news broke yesterday that EFCC agents, acting on a tipoff
from whistleblowers, raided the apartment in the upscale Ikoyi suburb of Lagos
and found staggering sums of cash in US dollars, British pounds sterling as
well as the naira, Nigeria’s currency. The stash of cash was found behind safes
placed behind a false wall in Apartment 7B.
The EFCC has yet to officially reveal the owner of the
money. However, a senior source at the anti-corruption agency had told GIS that
the cash possibly belonged to Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, an erstwhile director of
retail at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Ms. Nnamdi-Ogbue
was sacked three days ago over a scandal involving the illegal sale of 130
million liters of gasoline belonging to the NNPC. An EFCC investigator claimed
that the fired NNPC executive colluded with a controversial oil marketer,
Ifeanyi Ubah, to enable the latter’s Capital Oil Company to sell the NNPC
gasoline. Mr. Ubah is currently under detention in Abuja by agents of the
Department of State Security (DSS).
However, earlier today Ms. Ogbue denied ownership of
the funds but claimed that the owners were well known. One source stated that
the apartment where the hoard of cash was discovered belonged to one of the
daughters of a top PDP official, Anthony Anenih.
However, Mr. Muazu contacted GIS through his UK-based
aide, Akin Oyegoke, and admitted that he built the house and began selling
apartment units to buyers. He also claimed that the building still has some
empty apartments yet to be sold. He also admitted that he reserved the
penthouse at the building for his personal use.
Mr. Oyegoke would not disclose Mr. Muazu’s whereabouts
but merely said that the former PDP chairman travels between Nigeria and
several international destinations.
Mr. Muazu had initially denied the ownership of the
property until GIS revealed the fact that a construction company, ETCO, which
built the apartment complex listed him on their website as the owner/client.
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