Former Governor of Osun State and court-reinstated National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola has declared himself the undisputable National Secretary of the party, notwithstanding the party’s recent announcement of his suspension.
Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja during a press conference, Oyinlola reminded the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) Chaired by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur that by the import of the Court of Appeal judgement reinstating him and having been empowered by the constitution of our party, he remains the undisputed National Secretary of the PDP.
“Gentlemen of the press, on Monday night, I heard through the media, my purported suspension from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur led National Working Committee (NWC). I have since gone through the press statement containing my purported suspension and have come to the conclusion that I should make a formal reaction to this latest act of impunity by a section of the party, that is clearly out to ridicule the judiciary, denigrate the rule of law and destroy the very basic foundation of constitutionalism in our country”, Oyinlola said.
“You will recall that on January 11, this year, Justice Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered my removal from office as the National Secretary of the PDP in his judgement, in a suit instituted by a faction of the Ogun State chapter of the party. Although I immediately appealed that court verdict, the Bamanga Tukur led PDP swiftly swore in my deputy as acting National Secretary, declaring that the judgement was declaratory, hence its implementation could not be delayed.
“The PDP and my humble self appealed that judgement. Surprisingly, the PDP, which was vicariously liable for my actions as National Secretary almost immediately, and without any reason or justification, withdrew its appeal. I was requested to pursue my appeal and report back if my petition lodged at the Court of Appeal succeeded. From then on, I patiently and diligently pursued my case at the Appeal Court which, a few days ago, upturned the Federal High Court verdict and re-validated my mandate as the validly elected PDP National Secretary. I expected the party to abide by that judgment”.
He described his suspension, which he found out only through the media, as a shocking and unbelievable reaction to his winning a court case. He recalled the history of the PDP as one of resistance to dictatorship and impunity, of robust opposition to all forms of negation of constitutionalism and the rule of law, and as a product of the rule of law, saying that realization informed his shock at the “blatant assault” on the courts and an unfortunate affront against the Judiciary, good conscience and morality.
“Gentlemen of the press, I want to say that assuming the Tukur leadership of the PDP felt dissatisfied with the court decision, what should it have done? Shouldn't it have asked the plaintiffs to appeal the verdict instead of declaring this needless war against the judiciary?” he queried.
“Even then, I need to stress the unconstitutionality of this act of suspension of Oyinlola, a member of the National Executive Committee of the PDP. In saying this, I wish to invite the attention of Nigerians to the provisions of section 57 of the PDP constitution which states in detail, the procedure for disciplining members of the party. Specifically, section 57 (4) states that ‘where an allegation is made against a member of the party, the Disciplinary Committee shall inform the member in writing of the allegations made against him or her’. Nobody has till date informed me of any wrong doing against my party.
“Again, Section 57 (6) is even more apposite here. It gives the consequences of not giving a member a fair hearing before a disciplinary action is taken against him or her. It states: ‘Any decision taken against a member who has not been informed of the charges against him or her, or, has not been given any opportunity of defending himself or herself shall be null and void’.
“As to Tukur's NWC suspending me so as to preclude me from enjoying the relief granted me by the Court of Appeal , I wish to shock them by informing them of the futility of their action. They should have been diligent enough to read section 57 (7) of our party's constitution. It states: ‘Notwithstanding any other provision relating to discipline, no Executive Committee at any level, except the National Executive Committee, shall entertain any question of discipline as may relate or concern a member of the National Executive Committee, Deputy Governors or members of the National Assembly...’ That is what our constitution says. I am a member of the NEC and so Tukur's NWC can only submit a complaint to NEC concerning me or any other member of the party listed above.
“For the records, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as a loyal and committed PDP member, who has over the years been a lover of peace and amity, has demonstrated his preference for methodical and urbane conduct in office, by spear-heading several peace initiatives and amicable resolution of disputes. Accordingly, I have, in line with my stance on harmonious relationships and strict adherence to orderliness and respect for truth taken several steps in the past ten months since I was illegally removed from office by a contrived court ruling. Let me state with humility, that as a human being with feelings, I am bound to be hurt and aggrieved at the inhuman and unjust treatment meted to me in the course of the performance of my duties as national secretary. I, therefore, subscribed to several peace plans in line with the constitution of the PDP, as engineered by several organs, interests and individuals that have stakes in the affairs of the PDP. That itself is in conformity with the relevant sections of the PDP constitution on seeking redress by aggrieved party members.
“Among others, we met and discussed my plight a couple of times with the national leader of the PDP, His Excellency, Mr. President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR. I also made representations to the Governor Ibrahim Shema Committee set up by PDP Governors to examine the political crises in the South-west zone of the PDP through a memorandum presented to the body. Furthermore, I submitted a memorandum to the Committee headed by the esteemed Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, and the Prof. Jerry Gana panel on the last PDP special national convention, among many other moves to resolve the impasse amicably. It could be safely stated that I took adequate steps to register my displeasure at the manner I was shabbily treated by the NWC of the PDP, which went to the extent of withdrawing the appeals filed on my behalf at the Federal High Court, Abuja; and the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, with an apparent intention of pushing me out of the PDP at all costs.
“My persecutors owe me an explanation on why I am being unjustly persecuted, and vilified unduly; especially considering the fact that no pronouncement has been made on the representations I have made to various authorities of the party in the past 10 months, aside from my illegal removal from office. The causes and effects of the political crises must have been examined by the various bodies that investigated the conducts of all the aggrieved PDP members in relation to the handling of the crises by party leaders. To have resorted to an anomalous decision to suspend an accused without allowing for a fair hearing makes the NWC appear to be a body at the crossroad. That decision, which is designed to serve the self-interest of a clique, destroys the very basis of internal democracy in PDP and makes nonsense out of the principles and values which all right-thinking members of the society cherish.
“It is more than a huge joke and travesty of justice that in the process of attempting to illegally terminate Oyinlola's membership of the PDP, the PDP NWC violated the party's constitution by refusing to give me - the accused top official and member of the National Executive Committee of the ruling party a fair hearing, before my purported suspension from the party. It is tragic that all these do not portray the actors as being free from destructive bias and an irrational fear of Oyinlola's penchant for due process. What could be a better proof of their feverish struggle to prevent Oyinlola from operating at the national secretariat than the PDP counsel's vow to the press last January that '’Oyinlola will never be allowed to return to office as PDP scribe?'’
“I also understand that Tukur's NWC spoke about referring my case to the Disciplinary Committee. I do not know the disciplinary committee they are talking about because, the one set up by the Tukur leadership has not been approved by the NEC as stipulated by the constitution of the party and so cannot exist talkless of trying anyone.
“I do not want to believe that there is no one in Tukur's NWC knowledgeable in the provisions of the party's constitution and in the operation of the rule of law. I would rather hold on to the belief that the rush to subvert the rule of law and mock our judicial system simply blinded the hawks in that NWC to what the law says.
“In saying all the above, gentlemen of the press, I am reminding Tukur's NWC that the import of the court of Appeal judgement and having been empowered by the constitution of our party, I remain the undisputed National Secretary of the PDP. If they are so determined to discipline me for whatever wrong they perceive, they should report me to the National Executive Committee of the party. There is no short-cut to it as long as the party's acts and conducts are governed by its own constitution and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is the ground norm.”
Continuing, he drew their attention to Section 36(a-e) of the PDP constitution, which spells out the powers and duties of the national secretary, expressing hope that the consequences of having illegal persons perform those functions and exercise such powers in clear breach of the law have been noted. He therefore reiterated that the only person who can legitimately exercise those functions today and unless the Supreme Court says otherwise is Olagunsoye Oyinlola.“Gentlemen of the press, while I thank you for honouring my invitation to this briefing, I urge you to tell Nigerians to ask Alhaji Tukur and his cohorts what offence Oyinlola has committed against them to warrant the undisguised persecution and harassment? I have not offended them in anyway. Instead, I spent my days in Wadata Plaza, pursuing the peace, orderliness, progress and cohesion of the party at all levels, while not losing sight of the dictates of the law.
“Even Alhaji Tukur is a witness to my efforts in this regard. Why and how things got this bad in the party is what I cannot fathom. I, however, advise that in executing whatever plan they may have against Oyinlola, they should spare the Judiciary of the ridicule such as the ambush of last Monday, which they clearly designed to short-shrift the decision of the Court of Appeal. I am a law-abiding citizen and will always submit to the law. That was why I appealed Justice Kafarati's verdict. I urge my traducers to also endeavour to have faith in the law and in the Judiciary. If they are not satisfied with what the Court of Appeal said on Oyinlola, they have the Supreme Court to approach.
“Certainly, to live in terrible hate and perpetual fear is a terrible end to design and I will never allow my conscience to be imprisoned, while contributing my quota to the development of the PDP or any organization for that matter. Leadership must not allow itself to be part of a problem it is attempting to solve, as the result of this would definitely be loss of both credibility and efficacy to effect positive changes. Opinions must certainly differ on issues and developments, since we cannot all see through the same side of the prism in like manner. I am of the conviction that we could do better, as the ruling political party to restore and respect the rule of law, enshrine an ethic of accountability, fair play, responsibility in leadership and institutionalize the principles of equality, justice and respect for objectivity and truth. Doing otherwise exposes us to the ridicule of the advanced world as the political arena assumes higher levels of activity.
“Gentlemen of the press, I am happy to stress that by the combined effects of the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the provisions of the constitution of our party (particularly section 57), I, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola remain the National Secretary of the PDP - except and until the Supreme Court says otherwise, any other contraption from Tukur's NWC is illegal, null and void. Simply put, disobedience of the ruling of a properly constituted Law court leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Gentlemen of the press, no condition is permanent. That is why we all must fear the Creator in our dealings with fellow human beings. And like I have always maintained, the path of truth may be long, arrival at its destination is, however, definite”.
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Gunmen believed to be kidnappers attacked a commercial vehicle belonging to Benue Links, the state-owned transport company.
About 17 candidates travelling to Otukpo for their examination centres in the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are feared to have been abducted, although the exact number of victims remains unclear.
Information available to our correspondent says that the incident took place between 7–8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, along the Benue Burnt Bricks in Otukpo, Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State.
According to sources, the assailants waylaid the bus and robbed the occupants of their belongings before whisking them away into the bush.
An eyewitness, who spoke to journalists on the condition of anonymity, said the Benue Links bus, which was conveying about 18 passengers, ran into the kidnappers at about 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday night.
“The passengers were mainly young persons heading to Otukpo to sit for the JAMB examination scheduled for Thursday.
“Two people, the driver and one passenger, managed to escape. Incidentally, the passengers were mainly young men and women who travelled to sit for the JAMB examination scheduled for today (Thursday),” he said.
When contacted, the General Manager of Benue Links, Mr Alexander Fanafa, confirmed the incident, noting that the driver of the bus is presently undergoing interrogation at the police station in Otukpo for violating the company’s safety policy not to travel beyond 6:00 p.m.
He said, “As I speak with you, the driver has been arrested and is under investigation for traveling against company directive. I have warned all drivers to stop night journeys, as they would be held as first suspects if anything unfortunate happens.”
The General Manager further stated that the driver took his vehicle and loaded the passengers who were heading to Otukpo after official hours when the park manager, Mr Amedu, had closed, and ran into trouble, so he has been arrested.
The Executive Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Council, Prince Maxwell Ogiri, confirmed the incident, saying that it occurred between 7 and 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
He added that security agents have been mobilized to rescue the victims, stating that the victims are all young people coming to Otukpo to write JAMB examinations.
“It is true, I’m just coming out from a security meeting, and security operatives have been moved into the forest to help rescue the kidnapped victims.
“The victims are mainly young boys and girls coming to Otukpo to write JAMB,” Ogiri said.
However, when contacted, the Benue State Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Emenari, confirmed the situation, but said 14 passengers were kidnapped, while one passenger escaped.
The commissioner disclosed that he had already arrived in Otukpo and is conducting the rescue operation.
“I am in Otukpo now with all my team and DPOs who are here in the bush, and I am heading the operation.
“What happened was that one Benue Links bus carrying passengers coming to Otukpo was stopped and attacked by hoodlums, and 14 passengers were kidnapped, but one was able to escape,” he said.
According to him, the command had commenced an investigation into the incident, particularly the circumstances surrounding the journey.
He maintained that Benue Links management has a policy against night travel, but the driver allegedly picked up passengers after official hours.
“We know that Benue Links has a policy and don’t usually drive at night. So from what I got, they have already closed, but the driver, for reasons best known to him which we are still trying to find out, picked passengers along the road, and when he came here, the story you have is what we are having.
“But as we are investigating, we are on the ground to make sure that the victims are rescued,” Emenari said.
News
There are governments that save for the rainy day, governments that prepare for the storm, and governments that, when the heavens open and money falls like tropical rain, rush outside with buckets full of holes. Nigeria, under President Bola Tinubu, has perfected a fourth category: the government that borrows during a windfall. It is a feat of fiscal acrobatics so astonishing that even the most cynical observers of Abuja’s budgetary theatre must pause in admiration. For decades, Nigeria has squandered oil booms with the reliability of a metronome. But this administration has achieved something more ambitious: it has managed to squander a boom before it even finishes arriving.
The US–Iran war has sent oil prices soaring to $115 per barA Government Addicted to Debtrel, nearly double the government’s benchmark of $64.85. Nigeria is earning an extra $92 million every single day; a torrent of unbudgeted cash that would make even the most jaded petro state accountant blush. In barely a month, Abuja has pocketed almost $3 billion in windfall revenue. If the conflict drags on, the country could rake in $30–$36 billion this year alone. And what has the Tinubu administration done with this unexpected bounty? Why, it has gone on a borrowing binge, of course.
In the past week alone, the National Assembly approved: a $5 billion loan from First Abu Dhabi Bank; a $1 billion UKEF backed loan for Lagos ports; a $6 billion external borrowing package, rubber stamped in under four hours, and a N68.323 trillion budget; the largest in Nigeria’s history. This is not fiscal policy. This is a national credit card with no spending limit. Nigeria’s public debt now hovers around $115 billion, and debt servicing will gulp N20.5 trillion in 2026; more than the budgets of health, education, and infrastructure combined. Yet the government borrows as though it were a teenager discovering online shopping for the first time. One might have expected that a historic oil windfall would inspire restraint. Instead, Abuja behaves like a gambler who wins the lottery and immediately takes out a loan to buy more lottery tickets.
The Senate: From Upper Chamber to Upper Cashier
The Senate’s role in this farce deserves special mention. Once conceived as a check on executive excess, it now functions as a conveyor belt for presidential loan requests. The $6 billion borrowing package was approved with the speed of a fast food order; no debate, no scrutiny, no hesitation. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, hardly a stranger to Nigeria’s fiscal melodramas, described the approval as “reckless urgency.” He is being polite. The Senate has not merely abdicated oversight; it has embraced its new role as a ceremonial stamp of approval, a kind of legislative rubber chicken waved over every loan document. One wonders whether senators even bother to read the fine print anymore, or whether they simply check the exchange rate, sigh, and sign.
The Oil Windfall That Will Not Be Saved
Other countries treat oil windfalls as blessings. Norway built a sovereign wealth fund so large it could buy entire countries. Saudi Arabia uses its surpluses to diversify its economy. Even Angola; long mocked for its corruption, has learned to stash away a portion of its oil riches. Nigeria, by contrast, treats windfalls as invitations to spend more, borrow more, and plan less. The Excess Crude Account, once envisioned as a rainy day fund, is now emptier than a politician’s promise after election day. The Sovereign Wealth Fund is a polite fiction. And fiscal discipline is a rumor whispered in the corridors of the Ministry of Finance. The tragedy is not that Nigeria is poor. The tragedy is that Nigeria is mismanaged.
The revised N68.323 trillion budget is a monument to fiscal optimism. It allocates N15.8 trillion to debt servicing; N15.4 trillion to recurrent expenditure, and N32.2 trillion to capital projects, many of them rolled over from previous years because the government failed to implement them. This is not a budget. It is a wish list. The government insists that the spending spree will “stimulate growth,” “unlock infrastructure,” and “stabilize the economy.” These are the same phrases Nigerian governments have used since the 1970s, usually moments before the economy collapses under the weight of its own contradictions.
Borrowing to Service Borrowing
The most farcical element of the Tinubu administration’s fiscal strategy is its reliance on borrowing to service existing borrowing. Nigeria now borrows to pay interest on previous loans, borrows to refinance old debts, borrows to fund recurrent expenditure, and borrows to cover budget gaps. This is not fiscal management. It is a Ponzi scheme with national colors. The administration insists that the debt is “sustainable.” So did Greece in 2008. So did Argentina in 2001. So did Nigeria in the 1980s; right before the IMF arrived with structural adjustment programs (SAP) that Nigerians still curse today.
Nigeria’s economy is a house built on sand: the naira remains fragile, inflation is suffocating households, foreign investors are fleeing, debt service consumes most of national revenue, oil production is unstable and non oil revenue is anemic. And yet, in the middle of this storm, the government has chosen to borrow more; at a moment when it should be saving aggressively. The oil windfall is a gift. But gifts require stewardship. And stewardship requires discipline. Neither is in abundant supply in Abuja.
Conclusion: A Nation at the Edge of a Fiscal Cliff
The expanded budget includes lavish allocations to the judiciary ahead of the 2027 elections, feasibility studies for politically convenient infrastructure, and capital projects that conveniently align with electoral maps. This is not economic planning. It is election year choreography. Nigeria is not being prepared for the future. It is being prepared for the polls.
The Tinubu administration inherited a difficult economy. But it has chosen to make it worse. Instead of using the oil windfall to rebuild reserves, strengthen the currency, reduce borrowing, and stabilize the economy, it has embarked on a reckless spending spree financed by loans that future generations will be forced to repay. Nigeria is earning billions, and saving nothing. And it is borrowing everything. History will not be kind to this moment. Nor will the bond markets. In the end, Nigeria’s tragedy is not that it lacks resources. It is that it lacks restraint. And in Abuja today, restraint is as scarce as electricity.
Business
In The Spotlight
On Friday, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters confirmed the death of the Commander of the 29 Task Force Brigade in Benisheikh, Borno State, Brigadier General Oseni Braimah, and three other soldiers, following a ruthless attack on the military formation. Though this confirmation calmed initial reports that more than 17 soldiers were killed in the April 9, 2026 attack, it, however, ignited a deeper cause for concern among Nigerians, considering the fact that just about five months earlier, another brigadier general, Musa Uba, was murdered in cruel but avoidable circumstances near Wajiroko, in the same Borno State.
The attack on the military formation was not the only terrorist strike that week. That same Thursday, the devastating news of the soldiers who paid the supreme price had not been fully digested when another report filtered in, at night, that no fewer than eight persons had been killed by gunmen, in Mbwelle village, Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State. This was besides the bloodshed recorded in Shanga Local Government Area of Kebbi State on Easter Sunday, where 24 people were killed, according to the Kontagora Catholic Diocese, and in Kebbi and Kwara states, where 49 villagers were reportedly killed on Friday.
Despite the confusion, mourning and grief that followed the killing of these helpless civilians in various communities, described by authorities as some of the deadliest incidents recorded in recent months, the report of the military formation invasion and the killing of soldiers specifically caused panic attacks among citizens and gave a “hopeless situation” slant to the worsening security crisis. And this has become a trend since the beginning of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2009.
It is true that Nigeria’s security forces under the current administration have been dismantling bandit networks and killing scores of terrorists. But the relentless attacks on innocent citizens, which have led to the death of over 10,000 people in two years, and the kidnapping of more than 1,100 people in northern Nigeria, in just four months, appear to have enveloped security agencies’ efforts and boxed the current All Progressives Congress administration into a more precarious corner than previous opposition governments.
A few analysts have tried to compare the security situation under the late former President Muhammadu Buhari with the situation now. While some scored the President Bola Tinubu administration above his predecessor’s, others like Olu Fasan, in his article: “Recurring bloodbath: Nigeria is too fragile, too fractured to be safe”, said, “It has taken Tinubu less than three years in office to achieve a worse security situation than Buhari did in (his) eight years in power.”
I may not directly agree with this notion, but I know that the prevailing economic hardship or widespread poverty in the country, despite significant, growth-targeted policy reforms like exchange rate unification, subsidy removal, and fiscal coordination, can be justifiably linked to rising insecurity.
The Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, in a 2024 study brief, titled: “Insecurity takes the lead as the key driver of poverty in Nigeria”, said, “Once a country experiences conflict and insecurity, it faces a reversal of economic development, which in turn increases the likelihood of further conflict, resulting in a cycle economists refer to as doom-loop. By undermining household livelihood activities on massive scales in Nigeria, increasing insecurity in the last five years has not only intensified poverty in the country, but has also opened up new frontiers of multidimensional poverty across Nigeria.”
Insecurity, according to NISER, drives poverty by disrupting and destroying livelihood activities and by reducing access to basic needs, thereby stifling meaningful improvement in the quality of life in Nigeria. This argument can be better appreciated if one considers how many Nigerians have abandoned leisure or commercial farming, especially in rural areas, owing to rising insecurity.
It would be unfair to pin the blame for this lingering crisis on the current administration; past governments were not also able to do much to stem the tide. But the fact that political IOUs seemed to have trumped competence during the initial formation of President Tinubu’s cabinet inadvertently gave room for unpalatable political treatment of delicate security matters across the states.
The Ministry of Defence, according to analysts, was the worst hit until recently, as analysts found it difficult to decode the consideration behind the choice of the two ministers who were initially saddled with such a priority responsibility. Perhaps, if the issue of security had been given the kind of attention it is being given now, from the beginning of the current administration, the terrorists might not have been this emboldened amid international focus.
The result is that, unlike when Nigeria was ranked the Number One Destination for Investment in Africa for two consecutive years (2012 and 2013), other African countries have, since then, continued to displace the nation, owing to a combination of factors, including accessibility and innovation, economic stability and investment climate, among others.
Of the 31 countries that were tracked in the 2024 edition of the “Where to Invest in Africa” report, published by Rand Merchant Bank and the Gordon Institute of Business Science, Nigeria was ranked as the ninth most viable destination for investment in Africa, behind South Africa, in fourth position; and Ghana, sixth. The 2025 report sadly reflected a further decline for Nigeria, by nine places, to the 18th position.
It doesn’t take an economist to understand that banditry, kidnapping, killings, among other forms of security crisis being witnessed on a large scale in Nigeria, can seriously damage the investment climate and trigger capital flight. Any government that picks the socio-economic well-being of its citizens as Number One on its priority chart must, therefore, go all out to first ensure the security of lives and property, against all odds.
That the Federal Government has published a list of 48 individuals linked to terrorism financing is a step in the right direction. That it has also secured 386 convictions, out of 508 cases in a mass terrorists’ trial, is another feat that can deter others and stem the tide, but politicians must, in the interest of the masses and the well-being of the nation, stop playing politics with this sensitive issue of insecurity.
Rather than mock or blame the APC administration for the current predicament, opposition figures and Nigerians as a whole must converge on the need to be united against this monster. However, the Tinubu administration must also avoid actions or statements that could trigger a revolt at this period. With the economic challenges from almost every angle, Nigerians seem to be constantly on edge.
In March 2014, the APC, then the main opposition party, lambasted the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration for trying to cover up its “incompetence and cluelessness” in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency.
The APC, in a statement signed by Lai Mohammed, its interim National Publicity Secretary at the time, said, “A country that has no discernible counter-terrorism strategy that will clearly identify the multiple means for preventing, responding and defeating terrorist groups, including the alignment of political, military, social and economic instruments and objectives, cannot expect to successfully battle any insurgency.”
Now that the APC is the ruling party, and Nigeria is still not out of the woods, should citizens still agree with the party’s assertion? How the authorities handle the situation will determine the answer. What goes around comes around!
In The Spotlight
Nearly 40 years ago in London, I was invited to dinner by a Nigerian woman I knew in Lagos.
She had described the place in general terms, but I arrived at an upscale home with some serious luxury. She was kind enough to show me around, and following a stylish dinner, she described how she had acquired the place, mentioning headline Nigerian names.
I had no reason to doubt her: some of them called during the evening. I declined her offer to share her conversations with them.
It was my personal introduction to the scale of Nigerian property in the English capital, as she described who owned what or lived where.
While my visits to England at the time were work-related and I had little time to socialise, I did meet several teenage Nigerian students whose parents were glad to send them abroad for education.
They patrolled the streets of London in exotic cars, and I thought it was ironic that, in isolation away from Nigeria, the young ladies were often being manipulated by their fathers’ friends.
In the decades that followed, I read stories of politically exposed Nigerians, particularly state governors, for whom the UK was the first address in money laundering.
On a few occasions, I have alluded to that phenomenon in this column. They acquired expensive homes, cars and even gold phones. One, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, fled London disguised as a woman. Another, James Ibori, was tried and jailed.
Keep in mind that there have been about 185 governors since May 1999, and that London is nearly always their first port of call.
It is humbling to reflect on what percentage of this number has, in the past 26 years, sunk Nigerian wealth into the soil of England, with considerable swathes lost to middlemen and smooth women.
Remember: in 2006, the then-Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman, criticised governors, saying that they disappeared abroad just days after receiving state allocations and after visiting Bureau De Change operators.
In 2007, a famous Human Rights Watch report, “Chop Fine,” described the case of Rivers State in grim detail.
The problem is that it is not always governors, as demonstrated by the story, “Abuja on Thames,” which appeared in the British monthly, Private Eye, in March 2019. That month, I commented on that story, which involved the astonishing wealth in that country of Paul Ogwuma, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The full Nigerian picture of capital flight, elite consumption, and political patronage was on display when the Panama Papers in 2016 and the Pandora Papers in 2021, two massive international media investigations in which our Premium Times participated, uncovered how the world’s rich and powerful deploy offshore mechanisms to hide their possessions.
As always happens, no Nigerian lost a kobo, let alone a heartbeat, as a result of those investigations, because in Nigeria, crime and hypocrisy quite literally pay.
And then in 2024, a list appeared of 58 deceased Nigerians with unclaimed assets in the UK, as part of a daily-updated “Bona Vacantia” (BV) list, meaning that having remained unclaimed, they are now considered the property of the Crown.
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The Nigerian government does not inform Nigerians about the BV list or the claims process, so those properties are probably lost forever.
Remember also, the case of Nigerian “government” property on the verge of forfeiture in the UK a few years ago. In New York and Maryland, in the US, Nigerian governors and diplomats have left behind a long trail of property issues. In 2012, Alamieyeseigha forfeited $401,931 in traceable assets to the US government when President Jonathan’s government failed to claim them.
And so, the rich continue to flourish, and in January 2026, Tax Policy Associates of the UK published the extensive investigation, ‘Who secretly owns Britain? The hidden offshore owners of £460bn of UK property.’
A report in The Londoner, based on that investigation, peeled back the layers to link the late Herbert Wigwe, the former chief executive of Access Holdings, to about 106 properties. That placed him at No. 7 on a list of “The overseas power players in London’s property market,” with each property registered under shell companies outside the country, leaving none of them directly traceable to him.
While some of these practices are legal, especially on the part of private businessmen, the problem is that Nigeria has, for decades, been burdened by an army of much smaller ants eating away at her. Most of them are pillars of society, either claiming sainthood or praying for it, while the people from whom they amassed their wealth starve to death.
But there is another side: in Nigeria, the Tax Policy Associates investigation, like the arrests of Dariye and Alamieyeseigha and the trial of Ibori, would have been impossible.
“Abuja on Thames” would never have been investigated or published. Not the Pandora Papers. Not the Panama Papers.
Because we are traders. We are either buying or selling. When the aroma of money or power is present, some would sell their very souls. It is why we are where we are.
The system, of course, is in many ways pre-rigged. On real estate matters, we operate a fragmented administrative system with multiple overlapping authorities, incomplete digitisation, and overwhelming opacity. The FCT and state capitals are stories of greed.
This is because the Land Use Act vests all land in each state in the governor (and the President for the FCT). This means that, technically, no one “owns” land outright; one only holds a Certificate of Occupancy. That creates enormous scope for discretionary allocation and corruption, since governors and the FCT minister can grant or revoke rights, and often do.
This is why an FCT minister is a king. He can allocate land to whomever he pleases:
Relatives of the First Lady were thrice removed.
His wife.
Fourth cousins.
Underage children.
Governors, again.
EFCC officials.
ICPC officials.
Code of Conduct Bureau officials.
Girlfriends and their friends.
Supreme Court judges.
Court of Appeal judges.
INEC officials.
Senators.
Top police officers.
Among others, remember the FCT land scam of 2004; the Ministerial allegations involving the current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike; and the 57 multi-billion-naira properties linked to former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami.
Just imagine what a Tax Policy Associates-style investigation of real estate ownership in Nigeria’s big cities would reveal.
Because in Nigeria, power is deployed into service only when we pray in the mosque or the church. Outside that, power is for the self.
And if you can export that power abroad in funds that belong to the commonwealth, to deprive other Nigerians of it and make you live like a king forever, so much the better!
Sonala Olumhense