Atiku sells his upmarket 21-bedroom US mansion for a whopping $2.95m in online auction

FORMER vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has sold his 21-bedroom US mansion in an upmarket area of the state of Maryland for a whopping $2.95m after receiving a bid from it in an online auction.

A luxury mansion co-owned by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his fourth wife Jennifer Douglas, the house in the posh neighbourhood of Potomac, Maryland. The property gained international notoriety in 2005 after it was searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in connection with a bribery scandal involving disgraced former US Congressman William Jefferson.

A seven-bedroom cream-coloured single family brick house on 9731 Sorrel Avenue, Potomac, the house was originally listed for $3.25m on Zillow and other online real estate websites on January 25. However, it was eventually sold for a pending offer of $2.95m on February 26 after an online auction.

A pending offer means a buyer and seller of the property have reached a deal but a buyer can still pull out from the deal if they cannot resolve issues like cost of repairs or they cannot get a bank to approve a loan for the purchase of the property. Alhaji Atiku and Ms Douglas bought the 7,131 square feet house in December 1999 for $1.75m.

Built in 1988, the house was described on Zillow as one of the finest in the tony neighbourhood of Falconhurst, Potomac, where houses are valued between $2m and $10m. Alhaji Atikus’ mansion is a colonial-style building that sits in the middle of a 2.3 acres premises of lush green trees.

It has a total of 21 rooms, multiple terraces which are said to be ideal for outdoor parties, a pool sauna, a gazebo, a gourmet kitchen and an outdoor swimming pool. Sources with knowledge of the sale of the mansion said the Atikus had not lived in the house since the former vice president left office in 2007.

One source said that after 2007, house service staff lived in the mansion for some years but the place was later locked up, and had remained unoccupied. Tax records from the Montgomery County, Washington DC, show that Ms Douglas consistently paid property taxes on the mansion from 1999 to 2016 but she is now in default of $27,913.77.

Despite this, the house was not in foreclosure as it was paid for completely by the Atikus and available records showed that no bank loan was involved in its purchase. Also, the sale of the mansion was not listed as a public auction, which is one carried out under a court order on behalf of government or its agencies.

There is also no evidence that the sale is connected to the now infamous 2005 case or any other unknown criminal investigations. Paul Ibe, a spokesman for Alhaji Atiku said the sale of the mansion was voluntary and strictly an investment decision.

He added: “Atiku Abubakar is a successful businessman who has a long history of real estate investments.  The US home was simply one of such numerous investments but the home was no longer serving the purpose for which it was bought.

"Consequently, it has to be put up for sale via open auction, a growing and preferred method of selling high end properties. The proceeds thereof will be deployed to businesses aimed at creating jobs.”

Alhaji Atiku has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the Jefferson corruption saga that led to the search of his home but his political rivals have always harped on it to discredit him.

Now believed to be nursing a fresh bid to become Nigeria's president in 2019, Alhaji Atiku has not travelled to the US for a long time, fuelling speculation that he might be avoiding a possible arrest or prosecution.