Popular online medium, SaharaReporters has posted a damning report on their website about the properties owned by Nigeria's minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Dambazau (ret.), both here in Nigeria and overseas. This comes on the heels of outcry over the percieved ommission of the Minister's name in the Arm Procurement investigation report, having served as Chief of Army Staff during the period under review, casting doubt on the sincerity or otherwise of the Buhari-led anti corruption war, which many have written off as one sided at worst and selective at best.
The report:
An investigation by SaharaReporters into the assets of
Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Lieutenant-General Abdulrahman Dambazau
(ret.) has discovered that he and his wife own properties in the US
whose total worth, in millions of dollars, raise questions about the
source of the minister’s funds. Two real estate consultants told our
correspondents that the properties traced to Mr. Dambazau have an
estimated value in excess of three million dollars in the US alone.
Our investigators found that the minister’s real estate holdings
include an impressive and expensive and huge seven-bedroom house he
purchased in Winchester, Massachusetts, a few miles outside of Boston.
The property cost $1.99 million. Mr. Dambazau’s massive 6,500 square
feet home also boasts six bathrooms, an eat-in kitchen, an enclosed
backyard, a front porch, central air conditioning, a spa bathtub in the
master bedroom, a fireplace, and hardwood floors throughout.
Descriptions of the property also state that the “master bedroom has a
cathedral ceiling, double walk-in closet, linen closet, a spa-like tub,
and a separate shower with three shower heads, and double sinks.”
Our investigation into Mr. Dambazau’s inexplicable real estate assets
comes on the heels of public outrage that the minister’s name was
removed from the list of serving, and retired military officers
recommended for further investigation by a presidential panel that
investigated arms and equipment procurement fraud in the Nigerian armed
forces between 2007 and 2015.
An earlier report by SaharaReporters disclosed that Mr. Dambazau and
other top military officers were in a panic as the investigation panel
prepared its latest interim report. Several military and political
sources in Abuja revealed that Mr. Dambazau, who served as Nigeria’s
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) between 2008 and 2010, worked furiously
behind the scenes to suppress aspects of the probe panel’s report that
implicated him.
In response to public outrage, Nigeria’s Information and Culture
Minister, Lai Mohammed, issued a statement denying that the report was
influenced by figures outside the investigation panel.
SaharaReporters obtained documents stating that Mr. Dambazau
purchased the Winchester property shortly after it was built in 2013.
According to the deed of ownership he bought the property on August
29th, 2013 from the building firm for one million nine hundred and
ninety thousand dollars ($1,990,000).
In addition to the deed of ownership, SaharaReporters also obtained
the Declaration of Homestead form that clearly states, “We, Hadiza B.
Dambazau and Abdulrahman Dambazau, are the owner(s) of the premises
located at 109 Church Street Winchester, MA 01890, by virtue of a deed.”
Our investigation also revealed that Mr. Dambazau sold the property
to new buyers for $2 million on May 28th, 2015—exactly one day before
President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in in Abuja. The property sale
document includes Mr. Dambazau’s passport number A06275929 and is
notarized by Amy Kornbluth, the Vice Consul of the US Embassy in Abuja.
In addition to the home in Winchester, Mr. Dambazau’s wife, Hadiza
Dambazau, recently purchased a condominium in the city of Boston. The
property is part of the Millennium Avery Condominium complex. Documents
obtained by our investigators show that Mrs. Dambazau has had the
property in her name since its purchase on May 19th, 2016. The deed
states that the condominium was purchased for $892,000 and is Unit #410
located at 580 Washington Street, Boston MA, 02111.
Mr. Dambazau also owns other assets and properties in Nigeria’s
capital, Abuja. The assets are hard to explain, given the relative
modesty of the salary earned by Nigerian military officers. The
minister’s properties include Hajjar Plaza, an impressive building along
Ahmadu Bello Way that contains numerous offices, and Lebrex Plaza,
located in Utako, along Ajose Adeogun Street, which also has many shops
and businesses. SaharaReporters also found that the Interior Minister
owns a huge real estate at 15 Dodoma Street, in Wuse Zone 6 in Abuja.
Our investigation discovered that Mr. Dambazau often used Mohammed
Dauda as a front to purchase several of his real estate assets in
Nigeria. Several sources told our correspondent that Mr. Dauda is the
chairman of Labrex International Ltd.
Our correspondent asked President Buhari’s spokesman, Femi Adesina,
to respond to Mr. Dambazau’s extensive acquisition of real estate
assets, but he merely stated, “I have no information on this issue,”
adding that he could not comment further. Garba Shehu, who also serves
as Mr. Buhari’s media and publicity aide, pointed our correspondent to
the president’s statement “issued two days ago that he would not cover
up or hide corrupt conduct by those in his government.” Mr. Shehu stated
that nothing had changed since Mr. Buhari issued that release.
We spoke to Dambazau, but he hung up on our reporters.
Condo ownership Deed signed on May 19, 2016 by Dambazau's wife, Hadiza
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