Fleeing Ex Nigerian Governor Loses Choice Hotel To Mistress In Singapore

EFCC Chairman Magu

A run-away former governor has lost a choice hotel in Singapore to the latter day wife he used to launder his loot.

The ex-governor is currently under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly benefitting from the $2.1billion arms scandal.

Also hanging on his neck is an allegation that he mismanaged N19.8billion public funds while in office.

He has refused to honour EFCC invitation CR: 3000/EFCC/ABJ/ASO/TM5/VOL.5/596.

It was  gathered that the ex-governor used to frequent Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

But following the recent signing of six agreements by Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he reportedly left Dubai for Singapore.

A highly placed source familiar with the ongoing probe of the ex-governor, said the suspect entered into a marriage of convenience with the woman in Singapore with a view to protecting the investment of his laundered funds in the choice hotel.

He reportedly bought the hotel in the name of the ‘wife’.

“But the marriage turned into a scam because the ‘wife’ divorced the ex-governor and took possession of the hotel,” the source said yesterday.

“The suspect has been battling to retrieve the hotel from his ‘wife’. It is however doubtful if he can get it back.”

It was learnt that the ex-governor is now in a serious dilemma.

Investigation revealed that over N600million of the $2.1billion arms scandal fund has so far been traced to the ex-governor.

Another source said EFCC has been on his trail in connection with the alleged mismanagement of N19.8billion state funds between 1999 and 2007.

“Documents showed that he collected N600million illegally from the $2.1billion arms deal cash through the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA),” the source said.

“Initially, the suspect was based in Dubai but following a close up by detectives, he left the UAE for some countries where he has been on a make-shift life.

“We are weighing options on how to extradite him in order to bring him to justice. We will explore all legal options.

Responding to a question, the source added: “The former governor has been giving one excuse or the other for not honouring the invitation of the EFCC.

“At a point, the suspect said he had a heart-related problem but intelligence report confirmed that he was pretending.”