Tinubu’s Son Allegedly Spent $5BN On A London Property Under Investigation For Corruption 

Seyi’s firm purchased the private three-story house from Deutsche Bank in late 2017.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Seyi Tinubu, the son of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the incoming president of Nigeria, reportedly purchased a London property that was previously the subject of a fraud probe by the Nigerian government.

According to Bloomberg, the property was purchased by Seyi’s firm, Aranda Overseas Corp, for $10.8 million (more than $5 billion at the current official exchange rate) in 2017 and is associated with the biggest corruption investigation carried out by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

The prior owner of the home, Kolawole Aluko, was wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the time of the acquisition on suspicion of dodging a $1.5 billion oil trading debt.

The private three-floor home was purchased from Deutsche Bank in late 2017 by Aranda, which has had Seyi as its largest shareholder since 2011.

A year prior to the sale, Aluko had lost the home to the bank during a foreclosure. However, the property was just one of numerous assets that a Nigerian court had authorized the EFCC to seize in 2016 on the grounds that the businessman had allegedly acquired them illegally.

The two most prominent suspects connected to the various corruption investigations against the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, are Aluko and his friend, Olajide Omokore. The two were charged by the prosecution with receiving lucrative contracts from the former minister while failing to completely submit the money earned to the Nigerian government.

Due to their absence, Aluko and Diezani were later excluded from the court proceedings, however in February 2023, a court exonerated Omokore of all charges.

His attorney, Tokunbo Jaiye-Agoro, told Bloomberg that his associate’s acquittal also clears him and puts an end to any doubts about the disputed property.

Although Bola Tinubu, who won the presidential election in February, has been known to stay there, there is no evidence that he was involved in the purchase of the property. In reality, over four years after Seyi’s business purchased the home, President Buhari paid him a visit there in August 2021.

According to Bloomberg, Seyi and his father’s spokeswoman did not reply to questions. In addition, due to confidentiality laws, the British attorney named Aranda’s representative in the UK declined to comment.