Former Nigerian President's Son Splits Slope For Upper West Side

Despite his penchant for political repression and election fraud, former two-term Nigerian President Olu Obasanjo scored points in the West for economic reforms in the oil-rich African country. But Mr. Obasanjo’s hands were by no means clean when he left office in May 2007.

Last March, for instance, Mr. Obasanjo was indicted by the Nigerian parliament for awarding $2.2 billion worth of energy contracts during his eight-year rule, without due process.

His son, Olu Obasanjo Jr., however, seems to have markedly less extravagant tastes and spending habits than his father. He and his wife, Imelse, live in a Park Slope condo at 705 Carroll Street that Mr. Obasanjo bought for $527,500 in 2005, city records show.

Now it looks like the couple is planning to move to the Upper West Side. Just one month shy of their second wedding anniversary on Aug. 18, they paid $1.7 million for an 11th-floor condo at The Element on West 59th Street, according to the property deed.

The couple has taken out an $800,000 mortgage.