• Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Premium Times Opinion
Subscribe
Login | Sign up My account | Logout
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
No Result
View All Result
Premium Times Opinion
Login | Sign up My account | Logout

Unexplained Wealth Order: ​Taking Note of The New UK Law, By Paul Olanitan

by Premium Times
February 12, 2018
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0


The ongoing Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme’s tax amnesty is a potential escape. VAIDS allows Nigerians to regularise their tax status but importantly it entails an asset declaration. This basically allows citizens to restate their income and asset over the last seven years and beyond. There is, therefore, hope of a valid defence against an UWO application.


In our secondary school days, those unfortunate enough to lose their belongings would be admonished: ‘Lost property….Careless owner’. The United Kingdom government is planning to teach many high net worth Nigerians and some members of our middle class, a financially painful school lesson.

In recent years, the UK had one of the best performing property markets in the world. It was buoyed by inflows from Russia, China, Dubai and Nigeria. With high global oil prices, the new class of super-rich were feted and courted by the British with few questions asked as they snapped up attractive UK properties. But there were warnings that all was not well. In March 2015, Reuters cited the UK as a haven for illicit funds.

Transparency International’s executive director, Robert Barrington, said in 2015 that, “There is growing evidence that the UK property market has become a safe haven for corrupt capital stolen from around the world, facilitated by the laws which allow UK property to be owned by secret offshore companies.” Over 36,000 properties in London, mainly in highbrow areas, are said to be owned by offshore companies. Various reports cited London as a money laundering haven, but the UK government was conspicuously silent on the issue, turning a blind eye as millions of dollars poured in.

Sceptics may suggest that the UK government is looking for how to fund the bill for its Brexit divorce from the European Union or to finance its budget deficit. Whatever the reason, the new UK law that introduces ‘Unexplained Wealth Orders’ is a carefully devised move that could see a massive transfer of wealth from Nigeria and the countries mentioned above to Britain.

There is a special focus on politically exposed persons, but there is an implied presumption of guilt for non-politicians too. Interestingly, the orders can be obtained even if the property was purchased before the law came into effect and it does not matter where the property is located, whether or not the person resides in the UK or whether there may be other persons who hold the property.


From January 31, 2018, new powers have enabled the UK government to query ‘Unexplained Wealth’ and seize asset whose funding source cannot be explained. UK courts can grant Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) and forfeit property for which the owners are unable to prove the source of fund. The properties will be transferred to the UK government and sold to fund their law enforcement efforts.

Whilst the narrative in the UK is that the plan is to tackle Russian oligarchs, Nigerians will undoubtedly be affected due to their love for all things British, and the threshold is just £50,000 (N25 million). According to a British law firm, Mishcon de Reya, the requirements for obtaining the UWOs include that “there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the known sources of the respondents’ lawfully obtained income would have been insufficient for the purposes of enabling them to obtain the property.” There is a special focus on politically exposed persons, but there is an implied presumption of guilt for non-politicians too. Interestingly, the orders can be obtained even if the property was purchased before the law came into effect and it does not matter where the property is located, whether or not the person resides in the UK or whether there may be other persons who hold the property. In summary, it will be relatively easy for the UK government to secure these orders against foreigners.

Those who have followed that standard advice to have two or even three layers of nominee ownership to shield the identity of the true owner will find themselves as targets. This standard structure, advocated by offshore specialists who set up trusts in Mauritius, British Virgin Islands and other havens, will not offer protection against UWOs if the ultimate owner cannot explain the source of funds. The UK has already put in place the Beneficial Ownership register for Overseas Legal Entities. This means that a Nigerian who owns a UK property through a Mauritius based Trust, for example, could see their names exposed and therefore need to prove the legitimacy of the source of funds.

However, thankfully, for Nigerians there is a way out. This is one of those rare situations, where Nigerians should be extremely grateful to their government.

Nigerians should run, declare and regularise their tax status, so that the UK’s Unexplained Wealth law does not become an unexplained loss of wealth. Anyone ignoring this threat is doing so at his or her own peril.


The ongoing Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme’s tax amnesty is a potential escape. VAIDS allows Nigerians to regularise their tax status but importantly it entails an asset declaration. This basically allows citizens to restate their income and asset over the last seven years and beyond. There is, therefore, hope of a valid defence against an UWO application. If a Nigerian is confronted with an UWO action, but had declared the asset and paid the right taxes no matter how many years after the purchase, it will be hard for the UK to justify a seizure.

Without the tax amnesty, Nigerians would be at serious risk, scrambling around to procure backdated tax clearance certificates, which would be readily disregarded by the UK courts on the grounds that there would be no evidence of tax payment in the year under question. Of course, VAIDS was not designed as an amnesty for looted funds or hot money but it could offer a very valuable protection.

Nigerians have traditionally not paid taxes and have never been asked to fully explain their income. That era is over forever and with the volume of investments in the UK property market, we are particularly vulnerable. For the UK government to dispute the validity of a VAIDS declaration that Nigeria has accepted and on which taxes have been paid, would violate the bilateral tax treaties between the two countries and would mean the UK questioning the legality of the Nigerian government’s ongoing tax amnesty.

My simple advice to my fellow Nigerians first, is to thank President Muhammadu Buhari and his economic management team for this timely intervention but ask for an extension of time. Secondly, Nigerians should run, declare and regularise their tax status, so that the UK’s Unexplained Wealth law does not become an unexplained loss of wealth. Anyone ignoring this threat is doing so at his or her own peril.

Paul Olanitan, a tax lawyer, writes from London​.​

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Pocket
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Reddit

Related

Previous Post

Offerings Are for the Poor, Not For Your Pastor, By Olurotimi Osha

Next Post

Nigerian Youth: The Real Third Force, By Samson Itodo

Related Posts

Zamfara Gold As Commonwealth, By Zailani Bappa
Opinion

Sheikh Gumi, Governor Matawalle and the Sands of Time, By Zailani Bappa

August 25, 2023
June 12 As Democracy Day Needs To Be Reconsidered, By Bashir Tofa
Opinion

The Need To Act Now To Stop the Ethnic Conflagration!, By Bashir Othman Tofa

August 25, 2023
Kofi Annan: In Service of the World, By Ejeviome Eloho Otobo & Oseloka H. Obaze
Opinion

Biden’s Likely Policy Orientation Toward Africa, By Ejeviome E. Otobo and Oseloka H. Obaze

August 25, 2023
Agenda for ‘Born Again’ JAMB and TETFUND, By Tunde Musibau Akanni
Opinion

Oyeweso, A Celebrated Historian, Ascends the Sixth Floor, By Tunde Akanni

August 25, 2023
Before Nigeria Burns, By Akin Fadeyi
Opinion

Is President Buhari Presiding Over the Last United Nigeria?, By Akin Fadeyi

August 18, 2023
On A Soyinka Prize In ‘Illiteracy’, By Biko Agozino
Opinion

Obasanjo: Only Those Who Did Not Do Well Went Into the Military, By Biko Agozino

August 25, 2023
Next Post
2019 Elections: Programmed To Fail?, By Samson Itodo

Nigerian Youth: The Real Third Force, By Samson Itodo

Fellow Sierra Leoneans: the U.S. Will Still Revert To Being a Role Model, By Opala and Schulze

Fellow Sierra Leoneans: the U.S. Will Still Revert To Being a Role Model, By Opala and Schulze

Subscribe to our Opinion articles via email

Enter your email address to get notifications of new opinion articles as they are published.

Join 526.6K other subscribers

Most Popular

  • Buhari: To Whom Much Is Given, By Suraj Oyewale
    Buhari: To Whom Much Is Given, By Suraj Oyewale
  • Nnamdi Kanu and Buhari’s Purported Death: The Facts and Fiction (2), By Nonso Robert Attoh
    Nnamdi Kanu and Buhari’s Purported Death: The Facts and Fiction (2), By Nonso Robert Attoh
  • Buhari the Dead and His Body Double, By Festus Adedayo
    Buhari the Dead and His Body Double, By Festus Adedayo
  • Oba Sikiru Adetona: Six Decades of Being Awujale, In Turbulence and Glamour, By Femi Kehinde
    Oba Sikiru Adetona: Six Decades of Being Awujale, In Turbulence and Glamour, By Femi Kehinde
  • The Prophetic Prayers (Du'as) For Protection From All Evils, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Prophetic Prayers (Du'as) For Protection From All Evils, By Murtadha Gusau
  • Buhari and the Jubrin Mystery, By Ken Tadaferua
    Buhari and the Jubrin Mystery, By Ken Tadaferua
  • Nnamdi Kanu and Buhari's Purported Death: The Facts and Fiction, By Nonso Robert Attoh
    Nnamdi Kanu and Buhari's Purported Death: The Facts and Fiction, By Nonso Robert Attoh

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Podcasts

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

  • Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
 

Loading Comments...