1 - 3 of 3
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2. Dubai Property: An Oasis for Nigeria’s Corrupt Political Elites
- Author:
- Matthew Page
- Publication Date:
- 03-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- For politically exposed persons (PEPs) with ill-gotten wealth, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an alluring destination for investing their gains. Although certainly not the only place to stash money, Dubai—dubbed the commercial capital of the Middle East—exercises minimal oversight and has few legal or logistical obstacles to transferring large amounts of cash or purchasing property. PEPs, defined as individuals who are or have been entrusted with a prominent public function, are at higher risk of involvement in unlawful activity due to their positions of influence and access to assets.1 In some cases, government officials and associates who succumb to the temptation become front-page news, but in many other cases, their activities go undetected or uncorroborated, despite the efforts of local authorities and intergovernmental bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force. As a result, billions of dollars are siphoned away to the detriment of both prosperous and struggling economies and societies. The case of Nigeria—home to Africa’s largest economy and the world’s seventh most populous country—offers valuable insights into this phenomenon.2 For Nigerian PEPs in particular, Dubai is an accessible oasis far away from the political drama in their capital, Abuja, or the hustle and bustle of their biggest city, Lagos. But a dearth of specific information about Nigerian PEPs’ property in Dubai has long precluded a deeper analysis of the share of illicit financial outflows from Nigeria; that is, until 2016, when the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (now known as C4ADS) acquired the data of a private database of Dubai real estate information (dubbed the “Sandcastles” data). At least 800 properties were found to have links to Nigerian PEPs or their family members, associates, and suspected proxies. With such information and continued monitoring, Nigerian and Emirati authorities and national and international actors could ramp up their scrutiny on high-end property transactions involving Nigerian elites to ensure that these purchases are not being made with pilfered public funds. The two countries could also deepen bilateral law enforcement cooperation by sharing information and assisting investigations more responsively and routinely. For their part, Western governments, the United Nations, and other international organizations could press the UAE to make its property and corporate records more transparent.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Economy, Financial Crimes, Elites, and Property
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Nigeria, Dubai, and Gulf Nations
3. Democratic Governance and the Frightening Impact of Corruption in Contemporary Nigerian Society
- Author:
- Christian Chima Chukwu
- Publication Date:
- 03-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Studies of Changing Societies Journal (SCS)
- Institution:
- Studies of Changing Societies Journal (SCS)
- Abstract:
- This work examines democratic governance and the frightening impact of corruption in contemporary Nigerian society in a bid to restore confidence in good governance and also improve the socio- economic development of the citizenry after fifty seven years of independence. Related literatures to the variables were reviewed including the adoption of the descriptive and content analytical method in the analysis of the secondary data in order to achieve the objectives of this study. Also, the social learning theory was employed as theoretical framework to find essence. Findings reveal that the phenomenon of corruption has evidently graduated beyond impunity, both in volume, scale, breadth, depth and has become a national cancer. In addition, the study notes that corruption has swallowed up Nigerian politicians into yet other webs of delusion, and deception such that the pursuit of corrupt practices by them, seem greeted with ovation. Aside this, the paper also highlights that since the mad rush for corrupt practices, especially amongst politicians seems impossible to abate, the alarming rate of vicious opulence which has engulfed the Nigerian nation clearly demonstrates naivety, desperation and un-Godly helplessness. Based on all these, the paper suggests that there is the urgent need to halt the hypocritical position in corruption cases involving high influential members of the government as well as the immunity covertly granted their cronies. The paper recommends that amongst other measures, government should not only be transparent in enforcing all relevant laws against corruption, but prosecute all those found culpable. Finally, Judicial Service Commission as autonomous body should halt the incessant dismissal of corrupt cases by judges on technical grounds, as well as continuing to beam its searchlight on all corrupt judicial officers.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Economics, Governance, Democracy, Financial Crimes, Transparency, and Judiciary
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria