Twists over ownership of N15bn found in Lagos home

FOLLOWING the recovery of sums of $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000, all totalling about N15 billion from the seventh floor of a four bedroom apartment at Osborne Towers located at 16, Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday, controversies continued on Thursday over the ownership of the money and the building where the cash was found.

Many names were linked to the cash, including that of a serving minister, a former minister and a syndicate while the mystery over the ownership of the building deepened as of the time of going to press.

For every name linked to the building and ownership of the cash, there were immediate reaction denying involvement of such personality with either the building or the cash, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it would continue its investigation to unravel the mystery.

Operatives of the anti-graft agency, on Thursday, returned to the apartment, as investigation commenced into the unusual cash recovery.

It was also learnt a manhunt had begun for the owner of the said apartment at seventh floor of a four-bedroom apartment at Osborne Towers located at 16, Osborne road Ikoyi.

A top commission source who refused to mention any names as the likely owner of the apartment disclosed that “from experience, we know that even the real owner of the apartment may not even know who is currently using it and for which purposes.”

Nigerian Tribune was told that the agent in charge of such property would be in a better position to tell who the current user is, from which the quest to unravel the identity of the owner would be better served.

The source wrote off many of the names being bandied in the media as owners and pleaded with the media and Nigerians to allow the commission conduct a thorough investigation into the unusual recovery.

Searches at relevant government agencies in charge of land and housing matters in Lagos were also being reportedly planned in the course of the probe, to unravel the identity of the apartment owner.

Occupants of other apartments on the property were said to be maintaining sealed lips, as many reportedly denied knowing the owner.

Nigerian Tribune source noted that they might be telling the truth, since residents of such high-profile property hardly interact and the original owners may be making very rare appearances at the property.

Names of former chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and that of former Managing Director, Retail, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mrs Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, were linked to the building and cash.

Reacting, Nnamdi-Ogbue, in a statement by her lawyer, on Thursday, denied the ownership of the cash, adding, however, that she occupied the second floor of the Osborne Towers in Ikoyi.

Mu’azu, in a series of tweets through his twitter handle @muazuaa, while narating his connection with the property at Ikoyi, denied the ownership of the money too.

“The property in question happens to be one of them. I acquired the land and jointly develop it using a bank loan I obtained about nine years ago.

“However, all the flats have been sold to prospective buyers in order to pay back the loan. I do not own or occupy any of the apartments.

“I sold all the apartments through established estate agents. As such, I have no knowledge or interest in the purchase or rent of any of the flats.

“I commend the efforts of the officials of the EFCC and the government’s drive at fighting corruption,” he tweeted.

As of Thursday evening, there was another twist to story as an online medium, The Will, reported that the apartment and cash belonged to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) with the cash said to be meant for security use.

The ongoing probe, according to EFCC, would, however, cover every aspect of the dumped cash, including the original source from which it was moved to the Ikoyi apartment.

If nobody came forward as the owner in court, to claim it, the commission, it was gathered, would get those who dumped it there and those who originally owned it for prosecution.

The EFCC said the investigation had not got to the level of personality identification, adding that in the course of the investigation, known names around the apartment would be summoned.

Meanwhile, a Federal High Court in Lagos, on Thursday, ordered the temporary forfeiture of the sums of the money recovered by the EFCC.

Counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, had approached the court with an ex parte motion seeking the forfeiture of the said money.

While moving his application, Oyedepo told the judge that nobody had so far shown up for the purposes of claiming the money.

The EFCC lawyer added that the staff of one AM Facilities, which was seeing to the management of the apartment wherein the money was discovered, could not provide any information as to the likely owner of the money.

Oyedepo urged the court to invoke its powers as enshrined in the provision of Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other related Offence Act to order the interim forfeiture of the money to the Fderal Government.

“We received an intelligence that No.16, Osborne Road, Osborne Towers, Flat 7B had in it, various sums of money.

“The intelligence was acted upon and on getting there, we executed Exhibited EFCC 1, which is a search warrant.

“As God would have it sir, we were able to recover $43, 449,947; still in the same flat, we also recovered £27,800.

“That was not all, we were also able to recover N23,218,000.

“For security reasons and because of the volume, we did not want to bring the money before my lord, but we have registered it as an exhibit with the exhibit keeper and the evidence is contained in Exhibit EFCC 04.

“Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other fraud related Offences Act empowered my lord, where a property is found to be an unclaimed property or where a property is found to be proceeds of an unlawful activity, to forfeit such property in the interim,” Oyedepo said.

Oyedepo equally called Justice Hassan’s attention to a segment of the papers filed before the court where the anti-graft agency argued under oath that, “no one had approached the commission to claim the said money with reasonable evidence confirming the genuiness of the origin of the money that they are seeking to forfeit in the interim.

“I, therefore, humbly and most respectfully urge My Lord to forfeit this money to the Federal Government pending when anyone who has the mind come and claim the money.”

Justice Muslim Hassan ruled that the money should be temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government.

Justice Hassan adjourned until May 5, 2017, for interested party or parties of the funds to show cause before the court as to why the sums should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

“In view of the facts placed before this court, I am mindful of granting the interim reliefs sought, by the EFCC,” the judge ruled.

Justice Hassan equally allowed the request of the anti-graft agency to advertise or publish the interim forfeiture order in any national newspaper for any concerned party to see it.