PANDORA PAPERS: Former NSA, Dasuki, named in alleged money laundering deals

The Pandora Papers continue to unravel lots of alleged shady financial misconducts as a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has been accused of money laundering through the establishment of shell companies in the British Virgin Islands.

This was alleged in a report published by Premium Times on Wednesday in collaboration with UK-based Finance Uncovered within the larger Pandora Papers Investigation coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, ICIJ.

According to the report, “Nigerian multi-billionaire businessman, Leno Adesanya, approached a secrecy seller in the British Virgin Islands, Trident Trust Company Limited, to help family members of Sambo Dasuki, the National Security Adviser at the time, to register a shell company, Hydropower Investments Limited.

“In the documentation submitted for the company’s incorporation, Mr Adesanya indicated that Hydropower Investment was set up to own real estate and investment portfolios.”

Further revelations by the Pandora Papers noted that the company was “locked in a long-drawn dispute with the Nigerian government over the Mambilla power project. The legal dispute is stalling the key funding from the Chinese EXIM Bank to execute the Mambilla project, an ambitious electricity generation infrastructure considered key to tackling Nigeria’s long-standing power sector crisis.”

However, the report clarified that there was “no evidence that that was the case here, although Mr Dasuki was a key political office holder in Nigeria at a time two of Mr Adesanya’s companies were seeking major favours from the Nigerian government.”