Tinubu’s son ignores report linking him to £9m fraud

Tinubu’s son ignores report linking him to £9m fraud

Seyi Tinubu, a 37-year-old son of President-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has failed to respond to a damaging report that linked him to the purchase of a London mansion under fraud investigation by the Federal Government.

The private three-floor residence in St. John’s Wood — a district favoured by American bankers — is equipped with an eight-car driveway, two gardens, electric gates and a gym,” .

Seyi reportedly bought the house in 2017 for £9m ($10.8m) through his firm, according to a Bloomberg report.

The report cited some previously unreported UK company documents that showed the property, acquired by Seyi’s firm was part of the biggest corruption scandals President Muhammadu Buhari administration was seeking to probe.

Tinubu’s spokesman Tunde Rahman and Seyi were contacted for comments on the issue through emails, phone calls and text messages but no response was received.

A British lawyer listed as Aranda’s agent in the UK also declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg, citing confidentiality rules.

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It said at the time of the purchase, Nigerian government was seeking to arrest the house’s former owner, accused of being on the run while owing the country an oil-trading debt worth over $1.5bn.

“The state was also attempting to confiscate the upscale real estate and other assets it suspected had been acquired by the businessman, Kolawole Aluko, with the profits of crime,” the foreign newspaper said.

Bloomberg reported that from the documents Seyi is “the main shareholder of Aranda Overseas Corp, an offshore company that paid £9m ($10.8 million) to Deutsche Bank for the property in north London in late 2017.”

Bola Tinubu won the presidential election in February as the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and is scheduled to succeed Buhari on May 29.

The report stated, “There’s no suggestion that President-elect Bola Tinubu was personally involved in the acquisition of the UK property in 2017. Current President Muhammadu Buhari visited him there in August 2021, nearly four years after the purchase took place.

“Tinubu, who will take over as head of state this month, has long been questioned about the source of his family’s wealth, including throughout the recent election campaign, when he and his representatives were pressed about it by local and international media.

“He and his campaign have said he made his fortune before going into politics by inheriting real estate, investing well and working as an accountant at Deloitte LLP and an executive at the Nigerian subsidiary of Mobil Oil in the 1980s and early 1990s.

“In an interview with the BBC in the run-up to the election, Tinubu cited Warren Buffett as an example he followed to become rich,” the report added.

Tinubu’s son ignores report linking him to £9m fraud