Mills Man Buys State Land

The New Statesman can authoritatively reveal that Oko Nikoi Dzani, founder and CEO of NDK Financial Services, and a close confidant of President John Evans Atta-Mills, has acquired lands belonging to the State, exposing the hypocrisy of the Mills-Mahama administration.

Mr Dzani, who is also the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Lands Commission, a position he occupies as a result of an appointment by President Mills, acquired the land on January 6, 2011 on behalf of NDK Financial Service Limited.

The 0.48-acre property is located in the plush Cantonments area, opposite the American Embassy with a market value running into millions of dollars. It is, however, unclear how much Mr Nikoi Dzani paid for the property.

The property in question was acquired by the State under Certificate of Title dated as far back as June 7, 1920 “for Government Service.”

Mr Dzani has had this property leased to him for 50 years, commencing from March 24, 2011 and ending on March 23, 2061.

The conduct of Mr Dzani has been described in political quarters as the true definition of conflict of interest, considering the fact that he is currently the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Lands Commission.

Unconfirmed reports gathered by the New Statesman also indicate that Mr Dzani has allegedly bought a number of different properties around the capital city since his appointment by President Mills.

This development has also called into question the “morality” of the purchase as has been espoused in recent times by the Mills-Mahama administration.

It is recalled that President Mills last week exercised executive power in revoking the sale of the property legally acquired by the Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey. This move by the President has been described as unconstitutional as he directly overruled a decision by the Supreme Court of Ghana.

In subsequent editions of the paper, we will reveal names of other NDC beneficiaries to have acquired state property.