The family of Sambo Dasuki, Nigeria’s former national security adviser, have been denied a visa to enter the United States over links to property bought with questionable funds in the country.
According to a new investigation by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF), Dasuki purchased a 127-acre horse farm in South Carolina in 2002 using questionable funds. At the time, Dasuki was leading Nigeria’s Security Printing and Minting company (NSPMC), responsible for printing the nation’s currency.
The investigation, conducted in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Initiative (OCCRP), The Post and Courier in South Carolina, and The Houston Chronicle in Texas, also uncovered attempts by Dasuki’s family to obtain an American investor visa using the farm as proof of investment.
In 2015, Dasuki was indicted for misappropriating billions of dollars intended for the fight against Boko Haram. PPLAAF’s latest findings indicate that approximately $27 million from these funds were traced to luxury real estate purchases in the United States, including the South Carolina horse farm.
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According to the investigation, Dasuki’s wife, Farida, in her visa application, claimed that the funds used for the purchase came from a $1 million lobbying contract her husband secured while heading Nigeria’s NSPMC.
She told US officials that Dasuki lobbied Ghanaian officials on behalf of a Texas-based oil company seeking access to an offshore oil platform. However, the US government rejected the visa application, citing serious concerns about the source of the funds. There is no indication that further action was taken against the property.
The farm, transferred to Dasuki’s wife, boasts an equestrian center featuring “55 stalls, 16 paddocks ranging from small to large, a quarter-mile track, stadium ring equipment with jumps, four horses, four barns, and trails throughout.” It is currently used as an Airbnb rental and wedding venue, the report stated.
This revelation follows a 2024 PPLAAF investigation with The Washington Post and Premium Times, which exposed Dasuki’s involvement in laundering money through luxury properties in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Nigerian officials have since urged US authorities to trace the funds used in these acquisitions. Despite these efforts, Dasuki’s associates still own several of these properties, and his family retains ownership of the South Carolina farm.
“Dasuki has continued to profit while the Nigerian people bear the brunt of the perpetual misappropriation of public funds in the country. This case is a critical test of the US and Nigerian authorities’ commitment to fighting financial crime. No one can doubt that corruption contributes to insecurity. Terrorist groups have thrived in the Sahel partly because of the diversion of funds meant for national security,” Jimmy Kande, PPLAAF’s Western Africa director, said, emphasising the implications of financial crimes.
The impact of financial misappropriation in Nigeria is severe. Over 65% of Nigerians are multidimensionally poor despite billions of naira budgeted for poverty alleviation programmes and other intervention annually.
While the masses are lavishing in penury, the political elites revel in squandermania at the expense of improved public infrastructures, quality education and healthcare.
Nigeria is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) recently released by Transparency International (TI), underscoring the deep-rooted corruption in Africa’s most populous nation.