Tinubu’s son has right to own properties –Otitoju, lawyer

An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Dapo Otitoju, says there is no law barring Seyi Tinubu, the son of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, from acquiring properties. The lawyer gives a broader insight into the trending issue in this interview on Channels TV ‘Politics Today’ monitored by Deborah Onyofufeke

There had been criticisms over a £9m mansion bought by the Seyi, son of the President-elect in the United Kingdom, what is your take on this trending issue?

You know, this allegation is still not confirmed and I would want us to also look at the fact that Seyi Tinubu, is an individual. The company, Blueberg, is one we know that is also into the business of various kinds, whatever business you think they are also entitled to work on but be that as it may, I believe that every individual has the right to acquire properties as the demands may come to them now looking at the issue at stake, just as Seyi Tinubu is the son of the president-elect, it doesn’t mean that he does not have the right to acquire properties, he is not the president-elect and neither has he also assumed the position in Nigeria. So, we have to think of the fact that in the oil sector, Seyi Tinubu is someone who has made money from various businesses and so he has acquired money to buy various properties. Are we saying that if his father is the president, he doesn’t have the right to acquire properties for his own business from his resource? By all standards, Tinubu is not a poor man and as such if he has a property that he wants he can get it.

The property was said to have been bought for £9m, which is about $10.8m, the money seems huge, and that is where the worries. People are raising questions about the moral aspect of it, what is your perception about it?

As I said, if you look at the status of Seyi Tinubu in society, apart from being the son of the president-elect, he is not a poor man. Seyi Tinubu by all standards has worked and earned his money. Looking at how much you are talking about, it is for the company. You are talking about Blueberg being the purchaser of the property it is still an allegation as earlier said but whatever it is we as an individual are entitled to abide by our rights to purchase property as long as the constitution of Nigeria allows you to have rights to own properties. Seyi Tinubu is a Nigerian, he can acquire property, let alone property that was acquired abroad, and what the problem is, you are not blaming Seyi Tinubu, you are saying Blueberg, which is a company. He is the CEO of the company, so, you have to be able to separate Seyi Tinubu from Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is the president-elect. He has not even assumed office, let alone made the rounds that it is the proceeds of corruption. I don’t agree with those who are talking about the fact that the money is huge £9m, as long as Seyi Tinubu is an individual, he has worked, he’s still working and he can acquire property as much as he can so long as there’s no linkage of Nigerian resources. He has not held any public office, he is not the governor, he’s not the deputy governor, he is not holding any elective or public office, he is a businessman so I believe that we should stop this making round and concentrate on better things.

Another issue here is that the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari has tried to seize that property, saying it was bought with proceeds of crime and it’s the same property in question that is said to have been purchased by Arande corporation and I’d like you to speak to this question of due diligence because the report out there is also saying that well that property was under mortgage

Now you see when you talk about mortgage, the mortgage system is different from what we’re talking about now in mortgage outside Nigeria, mortgage system is different from outright purchase which we normally do here in Nigeria. Now looking at what you just said, a property that was seized from Aluko and the former minister for petroleum now, this property having been seized by the federal government of Nigeria, of course, they have the right to either auction it or if they found that there is mortgage running on the property, they release it for whoever the mortgage job is. Seyi Tinubu could also have the right to acquire this property. Now the whole activity around this property is not clear as to whether it was seized by the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Now, if it is the mortgage, then you cannot be talking of corruption because the mortgage system has to go with monthly remittances or yearly remittances as the case may be. So, in essence, what I am trying to say is that whatever due diligence they must have taken, Blueberg being a company have a right to invest in properties. As you know, Nigerians and all other companies all over the world today, properties are more lucrative in business and people invest in it not to live but of course to keep and buy and make money. You cannot say that the $11m or £9m as the case may be is the fund of one person. So, what I’m trying to let you know is that any business transaction we are doing has its aims and objectives.

Again, Bloomberg Is the organisation that published a report and the company in question that purchased the property from that report is Aranda but what kind of impact do you see this having on the image of the president-elect?

As far as I am concerned, I don’t believe that this should have any story or should affect any image because Seyi Tinubu is an individual, he is the son of the president-elect, he’s an adult, he’s not a minor so, whatever he does, and I mean he’s different from the president-elect. Bola Tinubu is different from Seyi Tinubu so please, what I’m trying to let you know is that we cannot link this alongside any of the activity of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The son is different from himself and so whatever his son does is different from him to the best of my knowledge. That is why he’s answering Seyi Tinubu and the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

In cases like these in other climes, the Hunter Biden case for example, is a major reference point but in terms of how Nigerians receive this, you know the anti-graft stance of this current administration and international perception because Bloomberg said that he bought that property with cash. So, does that bother you in any way with a quantum of cash?

Now Blueberg is a company like I said it’s a company and it Is not only Seyi Tinubu that is a major stakeholder in that company, so, Seyi Tinubu could also have facilitators, and contributors attribution maybe to have bought that property that’s why I said it could be a system whereby you put resources together to acquire a property for purposes. So, for now, it’s still not verifiable, I could not have said Seyi Tinubu is the owner of the entire money he used in buying the property. I feel that we should concentrate more on the facts that are verifiable.