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Nigerian Elites Beware As Illicit Overseas Assets Take Centre Stage in Russia/Ukraine War

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4 years ago

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By Joel Popoola

No Nigerian can fail to have been moved by the scenes of carnage coming out of Ukraine following the cruel and cowardly Russian invasion.

But there are lessons our nation must learn from this horrific situation too.

The international response to Russian aggression has by and large not been military, but economic.

Russia has been hit by severe sanctions designed not to attack her army, but hobble her economy – an indication future wars may be fought not on the battlefields but on the international finance markets.

And while Russia seemingly holds a military advantage over Ukraine – despite the heroism of the Ukrainian people – it is getting destroyed economically.

An international alliance has cut off some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, used to facilitate trillions of dollars’ worth of international financial transactions every day, in what has been called “the nuclear option” of sanctioning.

They also promised to prevent Russia from accessing some of its foreign reserves. To put that in layman’s terms, Russian has gone to the bank and found its saving account empty.

When the stock market opened for the first time after the penalties were imposed, the value of Russia’s major banks halved almost instantly and the Rouble lost 30% of its value, making it much more expensive for Russian to trade – if indeed they can find anyone to trade with.

To combat inflation, the Russian Central Bank doubled its key interest rate to 20%. That’s higher than America’s equivalent rate has been in all of its history.

But what does this have to do with Nigeria?

A British parliamentary inquiry reported in 2018 that “despite the strong rhetoric, President Putin and his allies have been able to continue ‘business as usual’ by hiding and laundering their corrupt assets in London”

Hiding illicit assets overseas you say?

This may sound very familiar to Nigerians.

As part of the international response to Russia’s aggression, Russian elites have seen their overseas assets targeted too – which may be why Roman Abramovich suddenly seems so keen to sell Chelsea.

The message is clear. If you try to hide dishonestly or illegally gained money overseas, there is no place to hide. And if your country finds itself in embroiled in an international dispute, you may find yourself a target.

Russian is far from alone in seeing its very wealthy hide their wealth as far from home as possible.

In recent days, leaks from the Credit Suisse Bank have shown how comfortable the Swiss Bank was in having Eduard Seidel as a client.

The German was convicted of bribery in 2008 after overseeing a campaign of industrial-scale bribery to secure lucrative clients for his employer by shovelling cash to corrupt Nigerian politicians.

That leak follows last-year’s so called Pandora Papers leak, which pointed the finger at a number of high profile Nigerians – including current and former state governors, past and present lawmakers, and even a senior judge –for setting up shadowy shell companies in notorious tax havens to hide their wealth. That leak suggested that powerful Nigerians have bought UK property valued at £350m using 166 offshore companies.

The Ukraine situation has highlighted this issue. Soon there may be no hiding place for those who hide their wealth overseas. And if not in the national interest, our elites need to consider acting in their own self-interest when it comes to transparency and accountability.

But politicians need to take the same steps towards transparency and accountability too.

At the digital democracy campaign I lead, we have been trying to give them the tools to build back the trust and both their reputations and that of our entire political system, and to make all their financial interests publically accessible

We have created an free mobile app called Rate Your Leader, which was designed to reconnect electors and the elected, opening direct channels of communication between people and to their elected officials – giving local people the kind of access previously only enjoyed by funders.

Rate Your Leader encourages politicians to explain the decisions they have made and the reasons for making them directly to the people they affect. If the voters don’t like the answer they get, they can rate their politicians badly.

In the UK, a new Economic Crime Bill developed in response to Russian’s invasion of Ukraine will include a new register that will mean foreign owners of UK property must declare and verify their identities with the state.

That register will include Nigerians too.

This week the UK also signed another agreement relating to compensation for corruption in the Nigerian Energy sector.

The net is closing in on international corruption, and current international events are just making that net tighter. We now need to do our bit at home.

Joel Popoola is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur, digital democracy campaigner and creator of the Rate Your Leader app.

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Police Arrest Father of ‘Fake’ PFIPC DG, Falana Kicks

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21 hours ago

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July 7, 2026

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The police have arrested the father of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-acclaimed Director-General of the disowned Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).

Reports said that police officers, on Monday morning, stormed the family residence in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, and picked up Adeyemi’s father alongside a family friend who was visiting at the time. The arrest reportedly left Adeyemi’s elderly mother in distress.

The development is connected to the ongoing PFIPC controversy. The Presidency has disowned the council, saying no such body exists under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Adeniyi Adeyemi is currently facing charges bordering on alleged forgery, impersonation and related offences.

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), confirmed the arrest and faulted the police action, describing it as a “substituted arrest” with no legal basis.

“The father has been arrested. There is no legal basis for substituted arrests. The young man has promised to show up in court, so why arrest his father?” Falana said.

Further reports quoting legal experts noted that under the 1999 Constitution, arrest and detention must be personal.

Section 35 guarantees the right to personal liberty and allows arrest only where a person is reasonably suspected of committing an offence. Section 42 further prohibits punishment by association.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled against “guilt by association,” holding that criminal liability in Nigeria is personal and cannot be transferred to relatives. Arresting a parent, spouse or sibling to compel a suspect to surrender is regarded as unconstitutional unless there is evidence that the relative aided or abetted the crime.

By that standard, detaining Adeyemi’s father solely because his son is facing trial would amount to substituted arrest, which courts have previously declared illegal and awarded damages against.

Adeyemi came under public scrutiny after the PFIPC was listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act with a budgetary allocation of about N1.3 billion, despite the Presidency’s insistence that the council was never legally created. The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation has also stated that the council never completed requirements to operate a CBN account and has not received any government funds.

The matter was first flagged in October 2025 after the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) raised concerns that the purported council was performing functions similar to those of the NIPC. The Office of the Chief of Staff subsequently petitioned security agencies over alleged forged presidential documents.

Police authorities are yet to issue an official statement on the grounds for the arrest of Adeyemi’s father and the family friend. Legal observers say they will be monitoring developments closely, with the possibility of a fundamental rights enforcement suit if the detention continues without charge.

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Falana Asks Gbajabiamila to Step Aside for Probe over Alleged PFIPC Fraud

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2 days ago

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July 6, 2026

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Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has charged President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff (CoS), Femi Gbajabiamila, to step aside and give room for investigation into the allegation of fraud involving his office and the self-acclaimed Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi.

On June 11, 2026 Gbajabiamila denied knowledge of Adeyemi when he presented himself as the Director General of PFIPC which he claimed was non-existent.

Gbajabiamila said he petitioned security agencies in October 2025 after forged appointment letters surfaced and Adeyemi was later charged before the Federal High Court for forgery, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.

In his reaction, Adeyemi dismissed all the allegations against him, saying he was ready to clear his name in court.

Adeyemi called for an independent panel from Tinubu because those behind the allegations were trying to silence him, stressing that Gbajabiamila issued him an appointment letter.

However, Falana said the Presidency has explanations to make to Nigerians on Adeyemi’s travail.

Speaking on Eagle 102.5 FM, Falana insisted that the presidency has exposed Nigeria to “unprecedented ridicule.

He said: “How did an agency that is not created by law find its way into the Appropriation Act of Nigeria? How did that body get an office in the Federal Secretariat? How did that body successfully open accounts in the Central Bank of Nigeria?

“How did the Head of Service post about 300 staff to that office? The government will have to explain to Nigerians how a sum of N24 billion was budgeted for an unknown agency, as well as how that agency had accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“If this is a conman that can con the Presidency into issuing a letter of appointment, con the Central Bank into opening accounts, con the National Assembly into inserting the agency into the budget, I think the government is kidding.”

Falana said the National Assembly must explain how an “agency unknown to law” was inserted into the budget. Citing Section 81 of the Constitution, he noted that appropriation bills originate from the Executive.

“You cannot have an agency that is not created by law in the budget of a country.

“The government has a duty to ask Mr. Gbajabiamila to step aside to allow for a full investigation in the interest of the country and even in his own interest.”

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Sack Gbajabiamila Now, NDC Tells Tinubu Amid Fake Agency Scandal

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4 days ago

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July 3, 2026

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The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately remove his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, over allegations linking him to an alleged multi-billion-naira corruption scandal involving a purported non-existent  government agency, the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).

In a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, the opposition party described the allegations as grave and said Gbajabiamila’s continued stay in office could compromise any credible investigation into the matter.

The NDC’s demand follows allegations made by Prince Mathew Adeniyi Adeyemi, who claims to be the Director-General of the PFIPC, an agency the Presidency has publicly denied exists.

According to the party, the allegations raise serious concerns about transparency, accountability and integrity within the Tinubu administration.

The NDC alleged that despite the Presidency’s denial of the agency’s existence, the PFIPC purportedly secured budgetary allocations in the 2026 Appropriation Act and opened a domiciliary account, a Pound Sterling account and a Treasury Single Account (TSA) domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The party questioned how an agency described as non-existent could allegedly establish multiple high-level government financial accounts without official approval or the required documentation.

It also called on the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to explain whether forged documents were used in processing the accounts.

The statement further alleged that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation approved 314 staff positions for the purported agency, describing the development as another issue requiring urgent explanation.

According to the NDC, the allegations also include claims that Gbajabiamila demanded 48 per cent of the agency’s take-off grant, reportedly valued at N27.39 billion, a request Adeyemi allegedly rejected.

The party also cited Adeyemi’s claim that he secured his appointment through the Chief of Staff after allegedly paying N600 million, of which N400 million was allegedly paid through proxies, while N200 million remained outstanding.

It said the alleged unpaid balance reportedly contributed to the Presidency’s subsequent denial of the agency’s existence.

The NDC further alleged that the claims point to a wider pattern of institutional corruption, including the alleged sale of public appointments.

The party also linked the controversy to the death of Babatunde Tanimola, whom it described as an intermediary between Adeyemi and the Chief of Staff.

According to the statement, Tanimola reportedly died in a fire incident at a hotel in Utako, Abuja, on October 22, 2025, a day after the police reportedly received a petition from the Chief of Staff.

The NDC also referenced Adeyemi’s claims that he survived multiple assassination attempts, including an attack along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway on September 7, 2025, and alleged that certain individuals within government are plotting to eliminate him.

Against the backdrop of the allegations, the party demanded the immediate removal of Gbajabiamila to allow what it described as a full and impartial investigation.

It also called on President Tinubu to establish an independent investigative panel to examine the alleged operations of the PFIPC, including its budgetary allocations, financial transactions, account openings and staff recruitment.

The NDC further urged investigators to probe the circumstances surrounding Tanimola’s death and the alleged assassination attempts on Adeyemi, while recommending that Adeyemi be granted witness protection.

The party also demanded that the Chief of Staff produce all official documents signed since assuming office for forensic examination.

In addition, it called for the questioning of officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation over their alleged roles in the matter.

The opposition party also urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigeria Police Force to commence what it described as a thorough investigation without fear or favour.

“The NDC will not accept the usual tactic of issuing a mere defensive press release from the Presidency as a deflective ploy. Nigerians deserve to know the truth through a transparent process that promotes fairness and justice,” the statement said.

The Presidency has previously maintained that the PFIPC is not a recognised government agency.

As of the time of filing this report, neither the Presidency nor Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila had responded to the fresh allegations contained in the NDC statement.

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