A former Minister for National Planning and co-chairman of the Lagos at 50 planning committee, Rasheed Gbadamosi, has been named in the international PanamaPaper scandal that revolves around shady Panamanian company, Mossack Fonseca.

According to Premium Times, documents retrieved from Mossack Fonseca’s database shows that Gbadamosi owns two luxurious penthouses in Panama, which he bought in 2008 while serving as the chairman of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

Gbadamosi, who is also a writer and businessman, allegedly bought the property for a whooping N836.8 million ($2.6 million).

The said penthouses are located in a lush tower in Panama city, a city notorious for its modern high rising buildings, casinos and nightclubs.

Gbadamosi served as chairman of the board of PPPRA between May 2003 and December 2009 and before then was he was chairman of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Committee (PPPRC), PPPRA’s predecessor, from March 2001 to May 2003.

Nigerian law mandates that each public official must declare his property to the Code of Conduct Bureau. It is, however, unclear if Gbadamosi has declared his luxurious Panama properties.

Premium Times, the only Nigerian news agency that took part in the international investigation that involved over 100 other news agencies in the world, alleged that Gbadamosi was in so much haste to buy the properties that he offered to fly a private jet to Panama to inspect it.

Gbadamosi is said to have approached a Panamanian real estate agent, Gilberto Aleman, in 2008, to help him acquire the exotic properties from Nicolas Corcione, owner of Ciclones Corporation Inc and Cosmopolitan Corp.

The first penthouse, located at Ocean Park Tower 2, has a surface area of 537.33 square meters, on floors 35 and 36 of the Tower. It is valued at N436,800,000 ($1,365,000.00),

The second property is located in the same building as the first. It features a surface area of 479.88 square meters, on the 39th floor of the building.

Ocean Park Tower 2, where Gbadamosi’s penthouse properties are located is said to be one of the most expensive residential properties in Panama city and is furnished with high-end luxury finishing, internal jogging/walking, controlled security, football field, basketball and volleyball courts.

According to an email written on April 3, 2008, by Aleman, the real estate agent to the seller of the property, Gbadamosi is an “influential figure” and a “politically exposed” man in Nigeria, hence he should be treated with a lot of care and respect.

The email which was obtained by Premium Times reads in part that: “I understand that we must be very careful in such a large transaction, but we must not scare off customers and lawyers who often get us patrons.”

“The Lord Gbadamosi is a very influential figure in Nigeria who has been Minister of State, and today is chairman of the regulatory body for oil in Nigeria and has so much influence.”