Nigeria: Hundreds of millions of dollars embezzled and laundered through real estate in the United States

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been siphoned from Nigerian state coffers by elites over the past three decades and laundered through the purchase of real estate in the United States, an NGO claims in a report published Tuesday.

For decades, endemic corruption has plagued the public sector in Nigeria, from government procurement to oil revenues and daily interactions with the police and civil servants.

Despite being the continent's leading oil producer, Africa's most populous country faces increasing poverty, with 63% of its population projected to be poor by 2025 according to the IMF.

Nigerians will go to the polls next January to elect their president, with incumbent President Bola Tinubu running for re-election.

Some "284 properties located in the United States, with a total value of nearly $271 million, linked to 61 high-ranking Nigerian officials, current or former", were acquired from 1991 onwards, estimates the investigation by the NGO Platform for the Protection of Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF).

"Among the 61 people examined, 39 have already been publicly accused, charged or convicted of corruption," explains the NGO specializing in the protection of whistleblowers on the African continent, created by the French lawyer William Bourdon.

Often, the senior Nigerian officials involved acquired these properties in the United States in their own name or in the name of their spouses, without going through shell companies or complex financial arrangements, the report explains.

Moreover, in four out of five cases, the goods were purchased "without apparent financing", i.e. in cash, which "raises suspicions of money laundering".

The international cooperation that should have made it possible to identify these assets "remains limited", the PPLAAF points out.

Nigeria is the second largest African trading partner of the United States and Nigerians constitute the largest African diaspora there.

Among the officials involved, the PPLAAF identified senior officials from various states across the country, elected representatives, security agencies, and public companies.

Nigeria is facing numerous security challenges, including jihadist groups active for seventeen years, and armed gangs: "The scale of defense and security spending has created persistent opportunities for opaque procurement," notes the NGO, which believes that "the fight against Boko Haram continues to enrich military elites."

"The assets identified in this report are just the tip of the iceberg and represent much more than simple financial misconduct," the report concludes.

"They symbolize unbuilt schools, understaffed hospitals and an electrical grid unable to provide lighting - the material and daily cost of corruption borne for decades by ordinary Nigerians."

"We support any fight against corruption and are collaborating with the US government for this purpose," Daniel Bwala, one of the spokesmen for the Nigerian presidency, told AFP.