EXCLUSIVE: CCB investigates Peter Obi, Saraki, David Mark, four others over offshore assets

Panama Papers and Pandora Papers investigations: former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi; former Senate Presidents Bukola Saraki and David Mark; former Aviation Minister Stella Oduah; late former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; former Delta State Governor James Ibori; and Stella Ogene, a retired Delta State judicial officer.

Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has opened investigations into seven individuals exposed by PREMIUM TIMES’ Panama Papers and Pandora Papers investigations over their alleged ownership of undeclared offshore assets and business interests.

Sources at the anti-corruption agency confirmed the investigation to PREMIUM TIMES after the newspaper sought an update on the bureau’s handling of reports involving public officials named in the international investigations.

The seven individuals being investigated by the CCB are former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi; former Senate Presidents Bukola Saraki and David Mark; former Aviation Minister Stella Oduah; late former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; former Delta State Governor James Ibori; and Stella Ogene, a retired Delta State judicial officer.

“All the Nigerian officials named in the Panama and Pandora papers will be investigated. But seven of them have been assigned to case officers who have already commenced investigations,” one CCB source said.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the individuals used offshore companies and other corporate structures to hold assets and business interests while in public office, raising questions about compliance with Nigeria’s asset declaration laws and restrictions on public officers’ private business interests and foreign bank accounts.

Multiple sources said the bureau is expected to extend the investigations to other individuals named in the Panama Papers and Pandora Papers investigations.

The CCB does not have an official spokesperson, but an aide to its chairman confirmed that the agency was investigating the Nigerian officials named in the global journalistic investigations.

In September, the CCB said it was reviewing information and materials relating to allegations of undeclared offshore assets and business interests involving public officials exposed by PREMIUM TIMES’ Pandora Papers investigation.

The bureau had written to PREMIUM TIMES in October 2021, acknowledging the significance of the Pandora Papers investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

CCB described the investigation as one that had “created ripples across the globe” and sought this newspaper’s cooperation to facilitate investigations and, where possible, the prosecution of Nigerians implicated in the findings.

In a response dated 18 October 2021, PREMIUM TIMES Editor-in-Chief Musikilu Mojeed welcomed the request and pledged the newspaper’s cooperation.

“The primary motivation for our work is to help the public obtain the information they need to ask questions and make informed decisions and for law enforcement agencies to have the leads they require for necessary actions,” Mr Mojeed said.

After several years without a public update on the investigations, PREMIUM TIMES wrote to the bureau again in July 2026 to ask about the status of its inquiries into public officials named in the reports.

This newspaper recalled that the bureau had expressed interest in investigating allegations involving undeclared assets and business interests, foreign bank accounts and other possible breaches of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

“Several years after that engagement, however, there has been little or no public indication that investigations have been initiated or concluded regarding a number of public officials named in the Pandora Papers. We are therefore constrained to inquire about the status of any investigations undertaken by the Bureau in respect of these matters,” Mr Mojeed said in the letter dated 29 July.

In September, the CCB responded that the relevant information and materials were under review in line with its constitutional and statutory mandate. It said any necessary action would be taken in accordance with due process.

The bureau also said it might invite a PREMIUM TIMES representative with knowledge of the issues to provide further information or clarification as the investigations progress.

It declined to disclose details that could prejudice ongoing or contemplated action, citing the confidential nature of investigative and verification processes.

In 2021, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State and the Presidential Candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), maintained undisclosed offshore business interests while in public office.

The investigation was part of the global Pandora Papers, coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The Pandora Papers were produced from a massive leak of financial documents from 14 offshore tax havens like the British Virgin Islands and Panama.

The investigation found that Mr Obi remained a director of NEXT International (UK) Limited, a British company, for 14 months after becoming governor of Anambra State, contrary to Section 6 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.

It also found that he failed to declare certain offshore holdings and operated a foreign bank account while serving as governor, both of which raised questions about compliance with Nigeria’s public service rules.

Mr Obi did not deny the allegations of non-compliance with asset declaration requirements, operating a foreign account and retaining a directorship while in office. He said he was unaware that assets jointly owned with others had to be declared.

Mr Obi has also repeatedly said he did not divert public funds, even though PREMIUM TIMES did not accuse him of diverting public money in its report.

This newspaper also reported that Stella Oduah, a former aviation minister who later became a senator, acquired four London properties worth a combined £6.7 million between October 2012 and August 2013 through an offshore company incorporated in Seychelles.

The investigation identified her as the ultimate beneficial owner of International Trading and Logistics Company Limited (ITCL), through which the properties were acquired. It also found that she retained a directorship in the company while serving as a public officer.

The four properties were purchased without mortgage financing, according to the report. The investigation also linked Ms Oduah to three other London properties, bringing the total number associated with her to seven.

A leaked suspicious activity report submitted by Deutsche Bank to the United States financial intelligence agency FinCEN showed that Sea Petroleum and Gas Company Limited, a Nigerian business associated with Ms Oduah, transferred $71,973 to a London property agency in September 2012, about a month before one of the purchases.

Ms Oduah served as aviation minister from 2011 to 2014 and was elected senator for Anambra North in 2019.

The Pandora Papers also exposed the offshore interests of Stella Ogene, a retired senior judicial officer who headed the Delta State Customary Court of Appeal for 21 years.

Documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES showed that Mrs Ogene established Assete Media Limited, an offshore company incorporated in Seychelles on 7 September 2009, to acquire a London property.

The documents identified her as the company’s beneficial owner, director and secretary. Cook Worldwide, a financial services firm based in Panama, helped arrange the incorporation through Mayfair Trust Group Limited, an offshore service provider in Seychelles.

The investigation also found that publicly available records of Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission listed Ms Ogene as a director of a private Nigerian company for 10 years while she headed the state’s Customary Court of Appeal.

PREMIUM TIMES also reported that Nicholas Mutu, a member of the House of Representatives, maintained business interests while in public office and used an offshore company to acquire a London property.

Documents from offshore law firm Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee showed that Mr Mutu incorporated Forest Group of Company in Seychelles in 2010, while he was a lawmaker.

The company bought a property in north London in 2012 for £620,000 and sold it in 2014 for £730,000, according to UK Land Registry records.

Mr Mutu denied being a director of the offshore company, saying it belonged to and was controlled by his wife. He also denied that the company had owned a UK property.

However, documents from the UK Land Registry and the Pandora Papers identified him as a director, shareholder and beneficial owner of Forest Group of Company.

We also found that Mr Mutu was listed as a director of several Nigerian companies while serving as a public officer.

The CCB’s investigations also concern individuals exposed in the Panama Papers, a global investigation published in 2016 that revealed how wealthy individuals and public officials used offshore companies to hold assets and conduct business.

The investigation, also coordinated by the ICIJ, drew on leaked documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. It identified more than 140 Nigerian individuals and companies linked to offshore entities.

As the only Nigerian news organisation granted direct access to the leaked files, PREMIUM TIMES published more than 30 stories drawn from the internal records of Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm at the heart of the scandal.

Among those exposed were former Senate President Bukola Saraki and his wife, Toyin Saraki, as well as his predecessor, David Mark.

The investigations also revealed a network of shell companies in offshore tax havens linked to Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and his brother, Sayyu Dantata, as well as the offshore companies of Wale Tinubu, the chief executive of Nigeria’s biggest indigenous oil company, Oando Plc, among others.

Similarly, the reports also exposed the secret offshore company of one of Africa’s most influential televangelists, the late Temitope Joshua, popularly called T.B. Joshua.

Other prominent Nigerians named in the investigation are former Minister of Defence and billionaire businessperson, Theophilus Danjuma; Etisalat boss, Hakeem Bello Osaigie; Globacom CEO, Mike Adenuga; former Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State; the late Ooni of Ife, Okunade Sijuwade; Arik Chairperson Joseph Arumemi-Johnson and his wife, Mary, as well as two former senators – Andy Uba (Anambra) and Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto).

Top-tier politicians, businesspeople, and members of their families were found across the database, including individuals who continued to hold public office at the time of publication.

It is important to note that the use of shell companies is not inherently illegal.

Many individuals and firms incorporate them for entirely legitimate purposes. However, some of the Nigerian public officeholders identified in the investigation had failed to declare their offshore assets to the CCB, placing them in potential violation of Nigerian law. The CCB can, after its investigations, prosecute the officials found culpable at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Saraki family had at least four assets held through offshore structures that were not disclosed to the CCB as required by Nigerian law.

The newspaper’s investigation found that four assets linked to Mr Saraki’s wife were held offshore. Nigerian public officers are required to declare their assets, those of their spouses and those of their children under the age of 18.

Documents showed that Mrs Saraki held interests in offshore companies, including Sandon Development Limited, registered in Seychelles. The company was used to acquire a property on Whittaker Street in Belgravia, London, in 2012.

Babatunde Morakinyo, a longtime aide and associate of Mr Saraki, was listed as another shareholder in Sandon Development Limited.

The investigation also examined Girol Properties Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands in 2004, and Landfield International Developments Limited, incorporated in the same territory in 2014.

Documents showed that Mrs Saraki was initially listed as a shareholder in these companies. The investigation found that Mr Saraki later assumed control of Landfield through Longmeadow Holdings Limited, an offshore company registered in Jersey.

A purported board meeting held in January 2015 approved the sale of Landfield to Mr Saraki for more than £3 million, according to the documents.

The Panama Papers linked Mr Mark, a former Senate president, to at least eight active companies registered in the British Virgin Islands while he held public office.

The companies were Sikera Overseas S.A., Colsan Enterprises Limited, Goldwin Transworld Limited, Hartland Estates Limited, Marlin Holdings Limited, Medley Holdings Limited, Quetta Properties Limited and Centenary Holdings Limited.

Documents from Mossack Fonseca repeatedly classified Mr Mark as a politically exposed person. The records also showed that he provided documents to the law firm to establish his identity and address concerns about his status.

The investigation could not establish the nature of the businesses conducted through the companies.

Although offshore company ownership is not in itself illegal, Nigeria’s Code of Conduct rules restrict public officers from participating in the management or running of private businesses while in office, subject to specified exceptions.

The law also prohibits public officers covered by its provisions from maintaining or operating bank accounts outside Nigeria.

The Panama Papers investigation also exposed how the late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who governed Bayelsa State from 1999 until his impeachment in 2005, used offshore companies to hold assets and move funds abroad.

One of the companies identified in the investigation was Solomon & Peters Limited, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in 1999, months after he became governor.

Documents showed that Mr Alamieyeseigha was appointed the company’s first director and secretary. The investigation linked the company to offshore financial arrangements and property acquisitions in several countries.

British authorities returned more than £5 million recovered from funds stolen by the former governor to the Bayelsa State Government in 2012.

The investigation also traced properties associated with Mr Alamieyeseigha to the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa, alongside foreign bank accounts that held millions of pounds and dollars.

His asset declarations to the CCB in 1999 and 2003 listed buildings, land, vehicles, a boat, a company and bank balances in Nigeria. The declarations did not reflect the scale of the overseas assets identified in the Panama Papers investigation.