Tobias Sylvester
Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) said it has discovered over 1,500 landed properties owned by unidentified Nigerians in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Chairman of the panel, Mr. Okoi Obono-Obla, who disclosed this to newsmen in his office in Abuja, added that the federal government has begun move to synergies with the International Police (Interpol) to unravel the owners of the said properties. He said: “Document in our possession is showing that some Nigerians has over 1,500 landed properties in Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UEA).
“We are working with the Interpol to unravel the identity of this Nigerians, because the information came in the form of phone numbers, both Nigeria phone numbers and international phone numbers, and I believe there is a technology that would be used to unravel the identity of this people.
“I can assure you that we will go to every extent to unravel this people and bring them to justice. It is not only public officers who have such properties, even business and private people.
“We are working with Interpol, because the work we are doing transcend the borders of Nigeria and some people take assets abroad. So, investigation cannot be localised, but we do not have the structure to do international investigation; hence we have partnered with the Interpol to assist us in our international investigations.”
According to him, any Nigerian who owns a property abroad is supposed to pay tax to the federal government, insisting: “If you have properties abroad and you do not pay tax to the Nigerian government you are committing an offence.”
