REVEALED: 19 BANK ACCOUNTS OPENED IN US BANKS BY OBASANJO'S SON

Banking authorities ask: what for? 

 

LAOLU AKANDE&SEYI ODUYELA

AFRICANANEWS.COM EXCLUSIVE

 

There are fresh indications that the US banking authorities may have begun a deliberate surveillance of the banking habits of Gbenga Obasanjo after a discovery of the existence of 19 bank accounts opened in his name in American banks. Already a query has been raised on the matter with the possibility of closing some of the accounts.

 

Sources close to US banking authorities confirmed that the investigation had begun after a US firm was perceived to have been mistreated in an open bidding of one of the companies the BPE was meant to privatize. It was allegedly discovered that the Nigerian government was favoring a Russian company against a US company that had previously won an open bidding process.

 

The US company-believed to be BFIG had bided $410m for the purchase of ALSCON, and won the opening bidding process when suddenly the BPE was said to be favoring RUSAL, a Russian firm that had bided a lower amount of $205m.

 

It is now being alleged in some US government quarters that Gbenga Obasanjo, Nigeria's president's son has vested interests in RUSAL, the Russian firm who had lost the bid to BFIG, but is now being favored to purchase ALSCON.  

 

Based on a comprehensive protest submitted to the US government, senators and certain opinion leaders here in the US, banking authorities started to investigate Obasanjo's son, who had attended school here at the John Hopkins University here in the State of Maryland-where incidentally he was known for his outstanding brilliance.

 

A copy of the protest was made available to The Guardian. It was titled 22 facts on Nigerian Government Bias Against BFIG.It is normal practice here in the US that individuals petition their governments and representatives in cases of discrimination or maltreatment abroad or even at home. And because of the success of America's representative democracy, such representatives in government would often take steps or seek to remedy the situation in the interests of the citizens whose voting power is never underestimated here.

 

Sources said that it was then discovered that Gbenga had opened 19 different accounts in US banks with different name variations. it was learnt that some of the accounts were inactive, while others had what a source called "heavy cash." Only last week media reports said an account in Gbenga's name had been found by the US government with $22million in it. It was learnt that the investigation was provoked by the simple question; why did he need 19 bank accounts? 

 

The Americans are worried, said a source that the Nigerian government was not following due process and also concerned that the Russian company may be interested in ALSCON, partly to understudy America's technology which had been used to set up and construct ALSCON in the first place even before now.

A newspaper report had last week reported that $22m was found in the account of president' son, and that the money was said to be in one of the "many accounts maintained by the son of the president in the United States of America."

Reacting, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, a special assistant to President Obasanjo had said the report "is a mere campaign of calumny" aimed at blackmailing the president.

According to him "This is just a campaign of calumny and nothing could be farther from the truth. Gbenga is a first class individual and a man of absolute integrity who is humble, decent and very respectful. He is certainly neither a crook nor a rogue and nobody can blackmail him."