In the wake of reports by Anti-corruption groups on the monumental looting of public funds by Nigerian Politicians including Governors and Senators who make up the major number of perpetrators of Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), Investigations have revealed that among the mammoth number of Nigerian Politicians and Ex-Governors who have chosen Dubai as a preferred destination to stash their looted fund is the erstwhile Deputy Senate President Barrister Ike Ekweremadu.
A lawyer by profession, Senator Ekweremadu is from Amiri Local Government Area in Enugu State and a member of the People’s Democratic Party PDP. He is also the “permanent” representative of Enugu West Senatorial district in the red chambers, having served in the Nigerian Senate since May 2003 for four consecutive (6th, 7th, and 8th, 9th) assemblies. Findings reveal that during his tenure as Deputy Senate President in the 8th assembly, Ike Ekweremandu acquired two flats in Al Barsha South Fourth located in the heart of Dubai.
Documents attached to both properties show his date of birth as 5/12/1962, Passport Number A50194*** issued on 7/15/2016 with an expiry date of 7/14/2021, and Dubai contact number +971-50-5689. These properties according to sources, were allegedly not declared in his CCB form as required by law. Each flat in the luxurious area we further learned is estimated to be between 700,000 AED to 1,150,000 AED which is about N72,610,941 to N120,000,000 when converted to local currency.
It should be recalled that the Enugu-Born Senator had been in the news following the ex-parte motion for assets forfeiture filed against him in 2018 by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property to which he claimed not guilty despite about 22 properties linked to him. The Federal government subsequently asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze undeclared assets traced to him.
Also, in an act described as an ‘Unprecedented Naira bazaar’ by a committee of the National Assembly, Senator Ike Ekweremmadu in connivance with his Imo state counterpart, the former Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, allegedly withdrew a princely total of about N7.75 billion of public funds in four years during his tenure to purportedly review sections of the 1999 Constitution, although it was not immediately clear how the lawmakers spent the outrageous funds, years of investigation later revealed that the duo may have taken advantage of UAE’s soft system to launder funds under the guise of investing in the booming real estate sector of the country’s economy.
It is strongly believed that the funds which the Senator used in acquiring the two flats in Dubai were those he allegedly got from Taxpayer’s money while he was in service. Senator Ekweremadu did not respond to calls and also did not reply to the SMS sent to him from our newsroom for his reaction as at press time.