In early September, Elendureports.com reported that one of President Obasanjo's sons acquired a property in New York earlier this year. The New York apartment cost a little more than half a million dollars. Soon after our report, Gbenga Obasanjo, the President's first son told some reporters that he was not the owner of the said property in New York. He pointed reporters in the direction of his younger half-brother, Olumuyiwa Obasanjo.

Late last week, John Abebe, brother of Stella Obasanjo, Nigeria's First Lady, confirmed that Olumuyiwa, another son of the President, is the real owner of the property in question. In an apparent coordinated effort at damage control between the Presidency and the Abebe family to douse any controversy such information will create, Abebe told journalists that Olumuyiwa paid for the property with a mortgage loan from a bank. Abebe claims that Olumuyiwa got a mortgage based on his salary of over two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) as an attorney. He also told Daily Independent, a Nigerian newspaper, that Olumuyiwa was called to the Bars of New York and New Jersey states earlier this year. This claim is not true.

Elendureports.com can confirm that, indeed, Olumuyiwa Obasanjo passed the New York Bar examination in February 2005, a month before he bought the half-a-million dollar property in New York. Elendureports.com investigations also show that Olumuyiwa is not a practicing attorney as he has yet to be sworn in to the New York Bar.

Olumuyiwa G. Obasanjo whose New York Bar registration number is 4340162, completed and filed a form for admission to the New York Bar on July 15, 2005. He paid a fee of three hundred and fifty dollars ($350.00). This is a first step in the process of becoming a practicing attorney in New York. A graduate of St. John's University and resident of Brooklyn, Olu Obasanjo should have been admitted to the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division 2nd department. The process of becoming a practicing attorney in the State of New York is a multi level one and passing the Bar examination is the starting process. He would need to pass through three boards or committees known as “Committee for Character and Fitness,” which will scrutinize his past records before inviting him for an interview. He must scale these hurdles within three years of passing the Bar exams.

A Nigerian who practices law in the United States told Elendureports.com: "In some states you can be sworn in within two weeks after passing the bar. But it would appear the guy has a character and fitness issue and if that is the case, it may take up to two years to

Elendureports.com investigations of the mortgage claims by Dr. Abebe and the Presidency did not turn up any information that would corroborate their claims. To the best of our knowledge, the said property which cost over five hundred and thirty thousand dollars ($530,000.00) was not paid for with any loans. Records at the city registry of the New York City finance office suggests that no mortgage tax has been paid on the property. An expert suggested that even if Olumuyiwa got a mortgage, he may have been given such ridiculous terms that the mortgage company realized that if they filed the papers they could find themselves in hot water!

Joseph Slater, Olu Obasanjo's agent refused to answer any questions from Elendureports.com. "Whatever you want to confirm you can confirm through public records. Anything I have to say to you is covered by attorney-client privilege." With those words, Slater hung up on our reporter. The title company, Phillip O’hara Associates initially told our reporters that they were not sure if there are any mortgage loans on the property. They asked Elendureports.com to call back for more information and when we did, we were directed to Joseph Slater, Olu Obasanjo’s lawyer.

The claim by John Abebe that Olumuyiwa is a "struggling child" is ludicrous. To many Nigerians and even Americans, it is inconceivable that a 28 year old young man who just graduated from law school and earns over two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) a year can be described as a “struggling child.” There are thousands of tenured professors who earn much less than half what Olu Obasanjo earns.

That Abebe sees a salary of two hundred thousand dollars a year as paltry is a pointer to the mind set of the Obasanjo clan. They are out of touch with reality. This may be the explanation to the question posed by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari when he spoke with us recently: “How can Nigerians be so poor at a time Nigeria is making more money than it has ever made?”