Recent findings by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) has revealed that former Nigerian National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, who is currently facing Corruption charges, purchased a 127-acre horse farm in South Carolina in 2002 using dubious funds. The report was conducted in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, The Post and Courier in South Carolina, and The Houston Chronicle in Texas. At the time of the purchase, the former NSA was serving as the head of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, which was responsible for printing Nigeria’s currency.
He was charged in 2015 with embezzling almost $2.1 billion intended for military operations against the rebel organization Boko Haram. According to investigations, some of these funds—roughly $27 million—were utilized to purchase upscale Real Estate in the US, including homes in McLean, Virginia, Los Angeles, California, and a South Carolina horse farm. As per the report, when they applied for an American investor visa based on their million-dollar Investment in the horse farm, Dasuki’s wife informed the US authorities that her husband got the money from a lobbying contract he had as the director of Nigeria’s minting operation.
Allegations of illicit lobbying and financial misconduct.
According to her, Dasuki received USD 1 million to push Ghanaian officials on behalf of an oil business based in Texas that wanted access to an offshore oil platform. This occurred while Dasuki was in charge of Nigeria’s Mint. The US authorities posed significant queries regarding the origin of the money used to buy the home when it denied the visa application. The property was subsequently transferred to the ex-NSA’s wife, according to the article, and is currently rented out as a wedding location and Airbnb.
The farm has four horses, four barns, a quarter-mile track, a quarter-mile equestrian center with 55 stalls, 16 paddocks of different sizes, stadium ring equipment with jumps, and other paths spread around the land. Prior to this most recent revelation, PPLAAF’s 2024 investigation in collaboration with The Washington Post and the Premium Times which revealed how Dasuki and his cronies seem to have laundered money through a number of opulent houses. According to the 2024 report, tens of millions of dollars that Dasuki allegedly embezzled from Nigerian government funds wound up in upscale real properties in McLean, Virginia, a posh suburb of Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, California.
Investigations and real estate dealings amid allegations.
As reported, Robert Oshodin, a Nigerian furniture producer residing in the United States, and his wife, Mimie, received ₦270 million in public funds from Mr. Dasuki’s office barely two months after he was appointed. His office transferred millions of dollars to the couple’s bank accounts on numerous occasions throughout Mr. Dasuki’s three years in government. The pair spent a similar amount on US real estate and received at least USD 27 million from Dasuki’s office.
In 2018, Nigerian law enforcement urged the Department of Justice to investigate the claims against Dasuki and the Oshodin couple. Even after the US authorities learned of the accusations, the Oshodin pair kept purchasing and selling more houses, and they currently hold USD 20 million worth of real estate in McLean, Virginia, and Los Angeles, California. Despite being granted bail on several occasions by the court, Dasuki was held in custody until his release on December 24, 2019.
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Thus far, Dasuki has pleaded not guilty, the charges have not been proven, and the case is still in the courts. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria’s anti-graft body, however, declared that the couple’s assertion regarding the fund’s origin was false. As concerning as it could be, the Nigerian government’s continued difficulties in recovering assets and pursuing prosecutions related to the Dasukigate scam, together with serious coordination problems and judicial delays. No convictions have been announced as of February 2025, and the legal actions surrounding these charges are still pending.