ADVERTISEMENT
  • The Membership Club
  • #EndSARS Dashboard
  • PT Hausa
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Sunday, May 22, 2022
Premium Times Nigeria
  • Home
  • Gender
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • News Reports
    • Special Reports and Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Special Reports/Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • #EndSARS Dashboard
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • #PandoraPapers
  • AUN-PT Data Hub
  • Home
  • Gender
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • News Reports
    • Special Reports and Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Special Reports/Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • #EndSARS Dashboard
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • #PandoraPapers
  • AUN-PT Data Hub
Premium Times Nigeria
BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu

Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu (Photo Credit: Daily Trust)

How Kebbi Governor, Abubakar Bagudu, was arrested in America

byNicholas Ibekwe
September 21, 2019
3 min read

Long before he was elected governor, prosecutors in the United States and the United Kingdom said Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State was a bagman for the infamous late military dictator, Sani Abacha.

Mr Abacha, who died in 1998, was a relentless kleptocrat who stole an estimated $2.2 billion from the country’s coffers.

Court documents revealed that Mr Bagudu was the gas that powered Mr Abacha’s extensive money laundering operations. 

Working with some members of his own family, top members of the regime and Mohammed, Mr Abacha’s eldest son, prosecutors claimed the governor used an intricate network of phoney companies to siphon several millions of dollars from government treasury into offshore bank accounts operated by himself and the Abachas.

Former Head of State, Sani Abacha
Former Head of State, Sani Abacha

The money-laundering operations Mr Bagudu ran on behalf of Mr Abacha are well-documented in suits filed in the United States and the Bailiwick of Jersey, a British Crown dependency in the Channel Islands.

But what many Nigerians may not know was that Mr Bagudu, who now enjoy immunity from prosecution by virtue of being a governor, was once arrested for his role in the Abacha money laundering enterprise and spent six months in a US federal detention.

The Arrest

Although British and American investigators believe Mr Bagudu’s money-laundering operation spread across multiple jurisdictions and was broad, he needed the assistance of his wife and elder brother, Ibrahim. His preferred destination for concealing the illicit funds on behalf of the Abachas was Jersey.

Mr Bagudu’s attraction to Jersey was also the cause of his trouble.

In 2003, five years after the death of Mr Abacha, it became clear that the military tyrant stole billions of dollars from the country’s treasury. Because some of these illicit funds were traced to Jersey, authorities of the Island nation requested the help of US authorities to arrest and extradite Mr Bagudu, who at the time had lived in Texas for three years.

Mr Bagudu was subsequently arrested and kept in federal detention for six months while awaiting extradition to Jersey to answer questions about funds traced to the account of Doraville Properties Corp. a company managed by Mr Bagudu and Mohammed, with accounts at Deutsche Bank International, Jersey.

Map of Jersey, Channel Islands
Map of Jersey, Channel Islands

But before he was handed over to authorities at Jersey, Mr Bagudu quickly negotiated a deal with the US and Jersey authorities to “return more than $163 million of the allegedly laundered assets to Nigeria in exchange for Jersey’s withdrawal of the extradition request and his return to Nigeria,” a court document obtained by PREMIUM TIMES revealed.

The court document is a January 2019 ruling of a US District Court of Columbia between the US government versus the assets held in Doraville Properties Account 80020796 at Deutsche Bank, represented by Ibrahim, who is the only person still laying claim to the $287 million in the account. 

The court document explained that after the US government filed a civil forfeiture of the assets in the said account, several people made claims to the assets all of which were struck out.

“The only remaining third-party claim in this litigation is Bagudu’s (Ibrahim) asserted claim to certain defendant assets, which is based on an annuity he receives from investment portfolios in which the defendant assets are held.”

The release

Following the deal with Jersey and the US government, Mr Bagudu was released on bond and repatriated to Nigeria to face trial. Evidence gathered in Jersey and in Switzerland were also sent to Nigeria to aid Nigeria’s Attorney General in his trial.

However, since his return, he has not been questioned over his involvement in the Abacha loot but was instead cleared to contest in three different election circles – one as a senator and two as governor – all of which he won.

Read also: About 80 Nigerians charged for massive fraud, money laundering in America

Mr Bagudu did not return calls made to his mobile number. He also did not respond to questions sent to him by SMS on why he did not turn himself in for trial after he returned to Nigeria.

Similarly, the Attorney-General of the Federation(AGF), Abubakar Malami, did not return calls made to his mobile number. He also did not respond to an SMS inquiry asking to know if he was aware of details of the deal Mr Bagudu negotiated with US and Jersey authorities.

We also asked Mr Malami the whereabouts of the pieces of evidence sent to Nigerian authorities to aid the prosecution of Mr Bagudu and whether the government will prosecute Mr Bagudu after his tenure expires. The AGF did not respond.

  • WhatsApp
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Telegram
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

CITIZEN-FM AD


Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility

Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.

For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.

By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.

Donate


TEXT AD: Why women cheat: what every Nigerian man should know







PT Mag Campaign AD

Previous Post

Minister cautions HMOs against ‘contributing to NHIS Service Failure’

Next Post

DPR seals 12 filling stations in Sokoto, Kebbi

Nicholas Ibekwe

Nicholas Ibekwe

Nicholas Ibekwe is PREMIUM TIMES' Head of Investigations. He is a graduate of English Language from the Lagos State University. He has a Master's in International Journalism from City University, London, United Kingdom. Nicholas, who is 2016 fellow of the World Press Fellowship, has won several awards for his work including the Wole Soyinka Prize for Investigative Journalism, two-time finalist, FAIR( Forum for African Investigative Reporters) Award, and Chevening Scholarship. Twitter: @nicholasibekwe 

More News

A collage of 2023 presidential aspirants - Musa Kwankwaso. Kingsley Moghalu. Kola Abiola. Omoyele Sowore. Garba Adamu

ANALYSIS: No more also-rans: Parties seeking to rattle APC, PDP in 2023 General Election

May 22, 2022
A collage of 2023 presidential aspirants - Lawan, Tinubu, Wike, Atiku, Osinbajo and Moghalu

PT State of the Race: ‘Reluctant’ Lawan, governors’ double-dealings as presidential contest enters home stretch

May 22, 2022
Search and Rescue operations are ongoing after a four-storey building collapsed in Lagos Island

Death toll rises in latest Lagos building collapse

May 22, 2022
Charles Soludo, Former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria

Soludo condemns killing of Anambra lawmaker, places N10 million bounty on killers

May 22, 2022
Mrs Olawanle Olayinka, ailing mother of late Olatunji Olayinka, a brigadier general, who was involved in a military plane crash near Kaduna International Airport, on May 21, 2021.

A year after plane crash killed her soldier son, mother shares bitter tale

May 22, 2022
Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra State Governor

Gunmen behead lawmaker representing Soludo’s community

May 22, 2022
Next Post
Oyo govt. demolishes 5 shops, seals petrol station for violating environmental law in Ibadan

DPR seals 12 filling stations in Sokoto, Kebbi

Civic group tasks Fashola on transparency in power, works ministry

SATURDAY SATIRE: Nigerians and the fallacy of 'moderate criticism'

Read All Comment

Search

AUN-PT Ad





Transport-Technology


Stanbic Ad


Access Bank Ad





Glo Ad


Subscribe to News via Email

Enter your email address and receive notifications of news by email.

Join 1,843,612 other subscribers.

Advertisement






netherland biz school Advert



Zenith Advert

ADVERTISEMENT

Our Digital Network

  • PT Hausa
  • Election Centre
  • Human Trafficking Investigation
  • Centre for Investigative Journalism
  • National Conference
  • Press Attack Tracker
  • PT Academy
  • Dubawa
  • LeaksNG
  • Campus Reporter

Resources

  • Oil & Gas Facts
  • List of Universities in Nigeria
  • LIST: Federal Unity Colleges in Nigeria
  • NYSC Orientation Camps in Nigeria
  • Nigeria’s Federal/States’ Budgets since 2005
  • Malabu Scandal Thread
  • World Cup 2018
  • Panama Papers Game
  • Our Digital Network
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Projects
  • Data & Infographics
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

No Result
View All Result
  • #PandoraPapers
  • Gender
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Investigations
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Multimedia
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • #EndSARS Dashboard
  • Projects
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • Parliament Watch
    • AGAHRIN
  • AUN-PT Data Hub
  • Opinion
  • The Membership Club
  • Dubawa
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

Our website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.