For real? My properties abroad not acquired with public funds – Festus Keyamo

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has provided clarification on a property he was said to have acquired in the United States of America.

Keyamo, in a statement via his verified Twitter handle on Saturday, said he did not acquire the house with stolen funds.

The Minister has been trending on social media over the controversial US property.

But, he has confirmed that the property belongs to him, noting that he acquired it with money he made from legal practice.

Keyamo said he was only trying to bait the horde of those he called sore losers at the last elections with a video of his vacation in “one of my properties abroad” amid a light workout.

“They fell so terribly for the bait, they seem to view everyone from their depraved universe and assume everyone will wallow in the same moral squalor as them.”

On how he acquired the property, Keyamo said he had, on March 6, 2019, written to the relevant government agencies, informing them of the closure of his foreign account(s) and the repatriation of the funds to the country, “being some savings I had made as a private legal practitioner and a property investor over decades.”

According to Keyamo, the foreign funds were lying in his accounts until he was appointed Minister in 2019.

He stated, “In 2021, I again wrote to the relevant agencies (by letters dated January 22, 2021), informing them of the movement of those funds out of the country to purchase a property as a better investment decision, instead of the funds lying idly in the account whilst I am in public office.”

The Minister said he laughed when he saw the trending issues regarding “just one of my properties in the US.”

He said it was laughable that some people think that he (Keyamo) could not afford such a property after his 30 years of active, high-profile practice of law.

Keyamo added that he has been underrated because he had chosen to live a simple and modest life and not given to the ostentatious display of wealth.

He said the building is “about the cheapest of my several properties.”

Keyamo added that his flourishing and manned law chambers and his real estate investments are still far more financially profitable than serving Nigeria.

“Ours is a labour of love to my country; some of us don’t need government funds or patronage to get by,” he said.