Former Chairman of National People’s Democratic Party
(PDP), Ahmadu Adamu Mu'azu has 'disowned' the house where Economic and
Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) officers yesterday discovered more than $50 million
hidden behind false walls in a swanky apartment tower in the upscale Ikoyi area
of Lagos.
Muazu who reached out to Saharareporters after reports that he is the owner of the building, however, failed to explain why the construction firm that
built the house listed his name as a client.
Etco Nigeria Limited, a construction firm partly owned by an
Israeli company, Electral Limited, prides itself as haven built several
residential and corporate complexes in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Lagos
including the property at No 16 Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, where EFCC
recovered over $50 million cash stashed away in fire-resistant cabinets behind
a false wall on Wednesday afternoon.
The company on
their website listed Mu'azu as owner of the house.
But at about 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time in the
US, one Akin Oyegoke who identified himself as the "Media and ICT Personal
Assistant" to Mr. Mu’azu called SaharaReporters from London to deny that
the former PDP chair owns the building.
"Mr Muazu does not own any house in Ikoyi except his house
at Walter Carrington street, Victoria Island Lagos," Oyegoke said.
He also denied that his boss ever lived in the apartment
where Saharareporters noted he maintains a Penthouse.
Mr.Oyegoke claimed his boss was unhappy about the story
published by SaharaReporters linking the building to Muazu and requested that
it should be removed, but when the website asked him to explain why the
construction company listed his boss’s name as the client on the property
profile, he offered no answer only promising to reach out to Mr. Muazu and get
back to us but never did as at the time of publishing this story.
Meanwhile, sources close the ex-PDP chair have confirmed
that he is indeed the owner of the property.
Mu’azu was the former governor of Bauchi between 1999 and
2007. A graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, he received Bachelor of Science
degree in Quantity Surveying and masters’ degree in Construction Management.
He served as property manager of the Bauchi State Investment and Property Development Company. He ran for the senate seat in the 2007 but was defeated, but was later elected as chairman of his party, the PDP in 2014 before fleeing Nigeria in 2015 after the party's candidate, Goodluck Jonathan was defeated in a Presidential Election that brought the opposition All Progressives Congress party to power.
Mr. Muaza had previously been declared wanted by the
EFCC for engaging in massive corruption. He is believed to be living between
theUk and Malaysia aided by a luxurious private jet he purchased after 2015
election in Nigeria.
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