Saraki’s Secret Assets and #PanamaPapers Revelation  

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Saraki’s Secret Assets and #PanamaPapers Revelation  

By Correspondent

  Many Nigerians were taken aback on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, when it was revealed that president of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki, and convicted former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori were among some prominent Africans named in a newly discovered secret offshore assets scam released by a German Newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. It is recalled that the German based newspaper had on Monday, April 4, 2016, made public the Panama Papers, which opinion molders have described as the biggest leak in the history of data journalism, publishing online 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which showed how world leaders, celebrities, athletes, FIFA officials and criminals hid money using anonymous shell corporations across the world. Sadly, the Panamanian law firm eminently known as one of the world’s most secretive companies based on the information contained in the documents has allegedly been of assistance to clients to launder money, avoid sanctions and also shy away from tax. The data was said to have been obtained by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with over 100 other media partners in 82 countries. In quoting the said report, it was discovered that even Ibori had been linked to four offshore companies which included Stanhope Investments, which Ibori was said to have utilised in the opening of a Swiss bank account. The report further contended that the said account was allegedly used by Ibori to move funds for the purchase of a $20m private jet. It is recalled that the former Delta State governor held sway between 1999 and 2007 and was convicted and sent to prison in 2012 for fraud to the tune of £50m by a London court. Ibori is currently serving a 13-year jail term prison in the United Kingdom (UK). On the other hand, Nigeria’s Senate President on his part according to the report had about four assets kept in secret offshore territories.It was posited in the report that the assets were not among the ones declared by Saraki nor his wife, Toyin when the Senate President became the governor of Kwara State and after he was sworn in as the nation’s number three citizen. The assets not declared by Saraki are,Girol Properties Ltd, Sandon Development Ltd, and Landfield International Developments Ltd. To be explicit, the report stated that Girol Properties was registered on behalf of Toyin by Fonsecca on August 25, 2004, in the British Virgin Island. This came one year after the Senate President became the governor of  Kwara  State. It further contended that the company documents reveal that Mrs Saraki owns 25,000 numbers of shares with a par value of US$ 1,000 each, and was appointed the first and only director of the company. Mrs Saraki, in the view of the online platform, debunked ownership of shareholding in Girol Properties, in a letter to ICIJ. But apparently confronting Mrs. Saraki ICIJ maintained that the second undeclared asset, Sandon Development Ltd, was registered in Seychelles Island on January 12, 2011, and had Mrs Saraki and one Babatunde Morakinyo, of 11 Okeme Street, Lagos, as shareholders. While the firm was being incorporated, documents indicate that Mrs Saraki bought what is termed a curious service from Mossack Fonseca & Co, which happens to be the Panamanian firm that helped her to register the firm. According to the online medium, this was executed by Mrs Saraki so as to avoid being identified as the beneficial owner of Sandon. The Senate President’s wife asked Mossack Fonsecca to provide nominee directors for the company. The report explained that nominee directors are occasionally used in tax havens to conceal real owners of companies and assets. The report further posited that after the company was incorporated, Mrs Saraki utilised same in July 2011, allegedly to purchase the property on Whuttaker Street, Belgravia, London SW1W 8JQ. In a similar vein, the report explained that Landfield International Developments Ltd is a company registered in the British Virgin Islands on April 8, 2014, with the registration number 1819394 and its registered office is 1 Akara Blog, 24 De Castro Street, Wickhams Cay 1, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Island. In the view of the Mossack Fonseca, the registered agent of the company, Mrs Saraki, was said to have at least until January 27, 2015, been sole shareholder and beneficial owner of the company which had two nominee directors ”“ Glaisd Alie Limited and NewGombe Limited ”“ both appointed on September 2, 2014. Meantime, the Senate President’s wife debunked ownership of the mentioned companies in a letter to the ICIJ through her counsel. However, in a seeming contradictory posture, the Senate President argued that the assets allegedly linked to him actually belonged to the family of his wife which he was not obliged to declare under the law. In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Senate President said, ”˜It is public knowledge that Mrs Saraki comes from a family of independent means and wealth with numerous and varied assets acquired over decades in family estates and investments. ”˜Furthermore, the law only requires a public officer to declare both his own assets and those held by his spouse and his children under 18 years of age. The law does not require a public officer to declare assets held by the spouse’s family. ”˜It is not expected by the law that a public officer should declare such assets held in the spouse’s family estate. Indeed, the Code of Conduct form does not make provision for declaration of spouse’s family assets,’ he stated.

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