In April 2003 the Vice President signed a letter approving the placement of $125 million of oil-training money in two commercial banks. Days after one of those deposits landed, the bank lent more than a billion naira to companies chaired by his friend. Seven years later a United States Senate committee traced more than $40 million in what it called suspect funds into American accounts opened by his wife. In 2012, and again in 2017, American banks flagged money moving through the trust company that holds his business interests.
Each of these matters has been reported before, in pieces, across two decades. This file puts them side by side, with the sums as the documents state them, the status of each, and his answers where he has given them.
How to read a status
Documented
A primary record exists. It does not mean a crime occurred.
AllegedAn agency or person made the claim. It has not been tested in court.
DisputedThe facts are contested and no arbiter has settled them.
Never triedCharges or findings were made and never reached a verdict.
UnresolvedA flag or review was raised and no outcome is public.
The six matters at a glance
| # | Matter | Sum as stated | Where it comes from | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The PTDF placements Oil-training money placed in Equatorial Trust Bank and Trans International Bank | $145,000,000 | EFCC report, 2006; Senate ad hoc committee, 2007 | AllegedNever tried |
| 2 | $40 million into America Offshore wires into accounts opened by Jennifer Douglas | $40,000,000+ | U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, 2010 | DocumentedNever charged |
| 3 | The trust company Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria and the Intels transactions | $10m+ · $11,140,357 | Senate report, 2010; FinCEN Files, 2020 | DocumentedUnresolved |
| 4 | The October loans Loans to NDTV, Mofas Shipping and Transvari Services | ₦1,120,000,000 | EFCC report, 2006 | AllegedDisputed |
| 5 | The $2 million case Money-laundering charge against his lawyer before the 2019 election | $2,000,000 | EFCC charge, 2019; Federal High Court, 2021 | ChargedStruck out |
| 6 | Dubai and London A flat for one wife, “personal expenses” for another | $1,218,500 · CHF 741,000 | FinCEN Files, 2020 | DocumentedUnresolved |
Matter 01
The PTDF placements
29 April 2003 – February 2007
AllegedNever tried
$125mApproved by letter SH/VP/254 for placement in two banks
+$20mFurther sum the EFCC says was approved and placed in TIB
$23.75mOf the $30m placed in TIB, still unpaid at the time of the report
What the record says
- The Petroleum Technology Development Fund was under the Vice President’s supervision. By a letter dated 29 April 2003 he approved placing $125 million of its money in Trans International Bank ($10 million) and Equatorial Trust Bank ($115 million).1
- The EFCC’s 2006 report questioned “the unilateral approval of additional $20m by the Vice President to PTDF and its subsequent placements in TIB,” which it said negated the purpose the money was meant for.2
- The same report states that of $30 million placed at Trans International Bank, $23.75 million remained unpaid.1
- In February 2007 a Senate ad hoc committee indicted both President Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku over the management of the fund, but recommended no punitive measures, leaving that to the full Senate.3
- The Code of Conduct Bureau filed charges in December 2006. In 2007 the Supreme Court held that the electoral commission could not disqualify him from the presidential ballot. The allegations were never tried to a verdict.11
What this does not showNo court has found that any PTDF money was stolen. The report was produced during an open feud between the President and his deputy, and the charges that followed were never heard on their merits.
He told investigators the placements in Equatorial Trust Bank were “based on their judgment on the safety of the investment on maturity and the reasonableness of the returns on investment.” He later published his full defence, PTDF: The Facts, the Fiction.EFCC report, 2006; presentation to the Senate ad hoc committee
Matter 02
$40 million into America
2000 – 2008 · reported 4 February 2010
DocumentedNever charged
$40m+“Suspect funds” brought into the U.S., the Subcommittee’s term
$25mWired into more than 30 accounts opened by Jennifer Douglas
$14mSent to American University in Washington
What the record says
- A bipartisan staff report of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that Jennifer Douglas, his fourth wife, “helped her husband bring over $40 million in suspect funds into the United States.”4
- Nearly $25 million was wired into more than 30 U.S. bank accounts she opened, mainly by Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria, LetsGo Ltd. of Panama and Sima Holding of the British Virgin Islands.4
- About $14 million went to American University in Washington for consulting work on the university he founded in Yola.4
What this does not showThe Subcommittee examined how U.S. banks handled the money. It made no criminal finding against Atiku Abubakar or Jennifer Douglas, and neither was charged in any country.
He attributes his wealth to his early investment in the oil-logistics company Intels.As recorded in the Senate report, 2010
Matter 03
The trust company
2003 – 2017 · reported 2010 and 2020
DocumentedUnresolved
$10m+Wired by Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria to the U.S., 2003–2008
$11,140,35727 Intels transactions flagged by Deutsche Bank, 2017
“Alleged shell”How a 2012 bank investigation described the trust company
What the record says
- Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria was incorporated in 2003 to manage the blind trust created in 1999 to hold his stake in Intels. Premium Times reports him as its beneficial owner, with Gabriele Volpi, a banker and a lawyer, Uyiekpen Osagie, as directors and trustees.5
- The Senate report records the trust company wiring more than $10 million into the United States between 2003 and 2008.4
- A 2012 investigation by Habib Bank’s New York branch “identified GTCN as an alleged shell company.”5
- In 2017 Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas filed a suspicious-activity report on 27 transactions totalling $11,140,357 from Intels, citing past investigations of its co-founder.5
What this does not showA suspicious-activity report is a bank’s internal flag, not a finding. No regulator or court has ruled that the trust company is a shell or that the transactions were unlawful.
“The alleged transfer was a legitimate transaction… A decade after the so-called transaction and purported flagging, has there been any case of illegality established? None so far.”Paul Ibe, spokesman, 2020
Matter 04
The October loans
January – October 2003 · reported September 2006
AllegedDisputedNever tried
₦400mLoan to NDTV, 20 October 2003
₦420mLoan to Mofas Shipping, 22 October 2003
₦300mLoan to Transvari Services, 23 October 2003
What the record says
- The EFCC report says that as soon as the PTDF placed its first $10 million at Trans International Bank, the bank lent ₦400 million to Netlink Digital Television (NDTV) and ₦420 million to Mofas Shipping. It names Otunba Fasawe, “a long standing friend of the V.P.,” as chairman of both.1
- A further ₦300 million went to Transvari Services, a company of NDTV’s managing director, Ahmed Vanderpuije. The three loans total ₦1.12 billion.1
- According to the report, ₦30 million from the Vice President’s Marine Float account paid the deposit on the building used as NDTV’s headquarters, and ₦250 million moved from the Mofas account into the Marine Float account in February 2003.1
- The report also states that Otunba Fasawe sent ₦400 million to the Vice President’s personal assistant, Umaru Pariya, who died in 2019, and recovered it through the ₦420 million loan.1
- A 2007 report named his son Adamu as a director of Mofas. He said his son was not a director and invited the committee to check the company registry.6
What this does not showThese are the EFCC’s allegations. No court has tested them, and the claim about his son’s directorship is disputed on the record.
On the ₦30 million, he admitted giving the money, “but as a loan at the request of Otunba Fasawe to secure the building for his office.”EFCC report, 2006
Matter 05
The $2 million case
August 2019 – January 2021
ChargedStruck out
$2mSum in the EFCC’s money-laundering charge
2019The election the EFCC linked the money to
Jan 2021Charge struck out by the Federal High Court, Lagos
What the record says
- The EFCC charged Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie, a lawyer to Atiku and a trustee of the trust company in Matter 03, and his brother with laundering $2 million in the run-up to the 2019 general election.7
- In January 2021 Justice Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos struck out the charge and discharged both men, holding that the EFCC had failed to establish that the money was illegal.89
What this does not showAtiku Abubakar was not charged. The case against his lawyer ended in 2021 without a conviction, and no active prosecution over this money is on the public record.
Matter 06
Dubai and London
May 2005 – March 2012 · reported September 2020
DocumentedUnresolved
$1,018,500Wire for a Dubai flat for Rukaiyatu Abubakar, 5 March 2012
$200,000Earlier wire between the same parties, 25 January 2012
CHF 741,000A further transaction involving the same two parties
What the record says
- Habib Bank in New York flagged a $1,018,500 wire from Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria to Tanjay Real Estate Brokers for a flat in Dubai’s World Trade Centre residences for Rukaiyatu Abubakar, one of his wives.5
- The follow-up investigation found the trust company had, since May 2005, while he was Vice President, channelled money from accounts in Switzerland to an account in London for the “personal expenses” of Amina Titi Abubakar, his first wife.5
- The bank added Atiku, both wives, the lawyer from Matter 05, Tanjay and the trust company to its real-time suspicious-transaction monitoring.5
What this does not showOwning property abroad is not a crime, and these flags came from a bank’s own monitoring. No authority has ruled on the source of the money.
His spokesman declined to comment when ICIJ and Premium Times contacted him about the Dubai transfer.Premium Times, September 2020
What the record does not show
Convictions
Atiku Abubakar has never been convicted of any offence in Nigeria or elsewhere. The PTDF charges were never tried, the Senate report made no criminal finding, and the only related prosecution, against his lawyer, was struck out.
Right of reply
His on-record answers are printed with each matter. A request for comment on this file has not yet been sent; this notice will be updated with the date and any reply.
Sources
- EFCC report on Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as published by Sahara Reporters, 6 September 2006 · saharareporters.com
- EFCC report on the U.S. request and the PTDF, as published by Sahara Reporters, 6 September 2006 · saharareporters.com
- Sahara Reporters, “PTDF Scandal: Senate indicts OBJ, Atiku,” 28 February 2007 · saharareporters.com
- U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, “Keeping Foreign Corruption Out of the United States: Four Case Histories,” 4 February 2010 · download the report
- Premium Times / ICIJ, “#FinCEN Files: America places Atiku, wives, under international banking surveillance,” September 2020 · premiumtimesng.com
- Sahara Reporters, “Vice President Atiku’s burden of corruption,” 20 February 2007 · saharareporters.com
- EFCC, “EFCC arraigns Atiku’s son-in-law, lawyer,” 2019 · efccnigeria.org
- Vanguard, “Court dismisses $2m money laundering charge against Atiku’s lawyer,” January 2021 · vanguardngr.com
- P.M. News, “EFCC loses money laundering case against Atiku’s lawyer,” 25 January 2021 · pmnewsnigeria.com
- Atiku Abubakar, PTDF: The Facts, the Fiction, presentation to the Senate ad hoc committee · books.google.com
- Supreme Court of Nigeria, Action Congress & Anor v. INEC, SC 69/2007 · nigerialii.org