N20b Stuck In US Bank Over Sales Of FG Property
From Laolu Akande, New York
More than $20 million, being proceeds of the controversial sales of Federal Government property in the United States, is still sitting in that country's bank years after the disposal of the houses in Washington, DC and Maryland, depriving government of a substantial chunk of money.
Nigerian diplomatic sources revealed that under the government financial regulations, such monies ought to have been immediately transferred into the federation account, especially since the missions abroad were no longer permitted to reassign government funds and resources from one budget head to another.
Informed sources disclosed that the returns of the sales are currently sitting at the Nigerian Embassy account at M and T Bank, a regional bank in the U.S. with international branches outside the country. It said the proceeds of the sales are being retained by the Embassy, on the grounds that the Federal Government has been straining the missions of funds.
While the Embassy has not spent the actual principal said to be well over $20m, it is believed that it has been drawing on the interests from the deposit to keep the embassy running, even if such a financial practice runs against the financial regulations of the Federal Government.
Four Embassy houses were sold between the early years of President Obasanjo's first term and in 2007. The property included buildings that housed the Nigerian Embassy's operations.
The first property sold was an abandoned property on M and Wootin Street in the U.S. capital. That building used to serve as the Embassy's offices in Washington, DC. It was sold for about $2.5 million.
The second property sold was the Nigerian Embassy office on 16th Street, sold for $7 million, while another one on M. Street was sold for $12 million. They were both abandoned after Nigeria built a bigger office in the U.S capital city, located on International Court in Washington, DC. Former Vice President, Abubakar Atiku, commissioned the new office in 2003.
The forth property sold was the Ambassador's residence on Connecticut Street, close to Washington, DC but actually located in the adjoining state of Maryland. The residence was sold because it was considered a security concern, being too close to an active main road.
The sales were concluded when Prof. George Obiozor held sway as Nigeria's envoy, but even after Obiozor left and General Oluwole Rotimi (rtd) resumed, the money was still not released to the government account.
Sources also added that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was actually very active in the management of the entire sales transactions and that he personally okayed each of the sales before they were completed, at times approving the prices. But it was not clear whether the former president also played a role in the violation of the financial regulations that required the immediate transfer of the proceeds into the federation account.
Embassy sources explained that the over $20m proceeds were kept in the Embassy account because there were still, at least, one more property that is meant to be sold. The source explained that once the fifth property was sold, the Embassy would then plan to transfer the whole sum at once to the federation account.
The Embassy sources added that the money was held down in the U.S. in order for the tax refund of $1.55m from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to be remitted so that it could also be added together with the sales proceeds. There has, however, been a controversy between the recalled Nigerian Ambassador Rotimi and the Embassy lawyer over the tax refund.
While Rotimi insists that the tax refund belongs to the Federal Government, Embassy lawyer, Emeka Ugwuonye, says that he had been given the power by the government and the Embassy to apply the refund as payment for services he had already rendered to the Federal Government in the U.S. for other legal matters.
