Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello’s Hidden Assets Uncovered In Offshore Tax Havens

Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello’s Hidden Assets Uncovered In Offshore Tax Havens

Secret assets belonging to the current governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello, have been uncovered in offshore tax havens, including the notorious British Virgin Islands.

At least two offshore companies were traced to the governor, one of which was used to acquire a property on Harvey Lodge London.

One of the companies, Best International Holding Limited, was registered in 1999 in the British Virgin Islands. The company was registered on May 26, 1999 with $50,000 as shares capital.

The company, with registration number 314717, has the governor and his son, Shehu Bello, as directors.

 

Governor Bello himself is the son of Sani Bello , a retired colonel and military governor of Kano State between 1975 and 1978.

Tax authorities the world over view the British Virgin Islands with a certain level of notoriety and suspicion.

Offshore company structures are sometimes marketed to rich businessmen and politically-exposed individuals to avoid or evade tax obligations in their home countries or conceal ill-gotten wealth.

While the two directors of Best International Holding Limited gave their Nigerian address as 17A Wurno Rd, Off Katuna Rd, Kaduna, Nigeria; a Lagos address was used for the registration of a second offshore company.

Another set of Mossack Fonseca documents seen showed that Governor Bello is the sole shareholder of a secret offshore entity by the name Eyre Investments Incorporated.

This company, located in Hitchin, Herts, was incorporated on September 3, 2007 and had Ajibola Raphael Oluyede as director with Abubakar Sani Bello as sole shareholder.

Mr. Oluyede, a senior advocate of Nigeria, is one of the lawyers who defended Senate President Bukola Saraki in his recent corruption trial before the Code of Conduct Bureau.

Investigations revealed that for all his offshore dealings, the governor was using the services of Mr. Oluyede, the principal partner at TRLP LAW, as his legal front.

In one of the documents, it is stated that the registers of Best International Holding Limited are kept at D96 Landbridge Ave, Victoria Island Ext, Lagos, Nigeria. An online search of this address leads directly to TRLP Law office.

You can find more about this report HERE