Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, has denied any wrongdoing as regards buying a controversial property abroad.
Recall that Governor Oyetola is among a number of Nigerian public office holders (former and present) mentioned in the recently-released Pandora Papers.
The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state as well as more than 100 billionaires, celebrities, and business leaders.
Per the Pandora Papers, Oyetola was said to have purchased a multi-billion naira property in Westminster, London, United Kingdom (UK) which formerly belonged to Kolawole Aluko, an international fugitive wanted by law enforcement agencies in Nigeria and the US for money-laundering.
The property was said to have been purchased in 2017, via Aranda Overseas Corporation, a company in which Oyetola served as director.
Reacting, Ismail Omipidan, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Oyetola stated in a press statement that the governor had resigned his position as director of Aranda Overseas Corporation in 2011 when he took up a political appointment in Osun State.
“Since 2011 till date, he has had no association, dealings and business transactions with the said company, as he is neither a director nor shareholder of the said company.
“He, therefore, could not have acquired the said property in 2017 either directly or through the said company as being alleged,” the statement posted on Omipidan’s Facebook page on Saturday reads.
