Nigeria's 36 states and the federal capital territory, Abuja, have pocketed or diverted over N15 trillion federal allocation meant for local governments areas in the last 12 years, depriving the nation's third tier of government funds for desperately needed developmental projects, data analysed by Dataphyte has shown. Although that amount…

The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) Thursday launched the National Oil Company (NOC) database in Washington DC, as part of its goals to fill the gaps in knowledge and understanding of the growing amount of information about natural resource governance globally. The event, which had stakeholder representations from the international…

Wait for a second, imagine how much your state received from the monthly Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursement in December 2018. Stretch your thoughts to your local government as well. What numbers do you come up with? Hold your guess now. As the chart below clearly shows, the fact…

In the last fifteen years, the Nigerian government has spent at least $107.4 billion (the equivalent of N15.46 trillion) from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) under the administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. A Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ)…

The authorities of BOWEN University, Iwo, Osun State, have announced the expulsion of 29 and indefinite suspension of 26 of its students. In a statement, the Registrar of the school, K.A Ogunleye, published the names of the expelled and suspended students, with their matriculation numbers. "This is to inform the…

The President of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki, is in trouble again. On Sunday his name popped up in the global list of infamy exposing some leading world politicians for utilising shell companies in tax havens to either conceal assets, evade tax, or launder funds. That revelation, which is capable…

Secret assets belonging to the current governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello, have been uncovered in offshore tax havens, including the notorious British Virgin Islands. The discoveries were made as PREMIUM TIMES continues to scrutinize the over 11 million Mossack Fonseca documents contained in the sleaze dossier now known worldwide…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written to the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, describing the monarch as a serial liar and a manipulative rumour monger. In the letter dated December 30, 2016 but obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, Mr. Obasanjo described the claims made about him by the…

Nigerian legislators from the Senate and House Committees on Health, Appropriation, and National Planning who are attending a legislative retreat in Johannesburg, South Africa, on budgeting for health, remarked on Monday that bureaucracy is the key obstacle to implementing the mandatory 15 per cent budgetary allocation to the health sector.…

Three journalists who produced an investigative report for PREMIUM TIMES were on Saturday honoured for their work at the 2016 CNN Multichoice African Journalist of the Year Awards. At the awards ceremonies held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ogechi Ekeanyanwu, until recently a reporter for this newspaper, as well as Yemisi…

In his native Niger State, David Umaru, the All Progressives Congress senator representing Niger East Senatorial District is something of a folk hero. He was a thorn under the skin of the immediate past administration of Governor Mu’azu BabangidaAliyu. He was an unwavering critic and soon gained the reputation of…

A former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Abubakar Lawal Yar’Adua, bought a posh home worth £890,000 in London using a secret offshore company he registered in the British Virgin Island. Documents retrieved from the Mossack Fonseca database, exclusively obtained by German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and…

At a time Nigeria is facing severe economic crunch, a comprehensive oil report presented to the National Economic Council (NEC) has been found to be silent on a whopping N323.58 billion earned as crude oil revenue under the President Goodluck Jonathan government. The report, submitted to NEC by Mohammed Dikwa,…

At least 110 Nigerian individuals and companies have so far been identified by PREMIUM TIMES in the leaked internal data of Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonsecca, as operators of offshore shell companies in tax havens. Prominent among the new names being revealed today, in addition to the several that were…

The claims by a government-appointed recovery agent, George Uboh, that the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, is undermining efforts by the current administration to recover stolen money have degenerated into a dogfight, with the attorney general saying Mr. Uboh deceitfully obtained federal consent for the job by concealing…

A portion of the wealth owned by former Chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Hakeem Belo-Osagie, is domiciled in trusts and shell companies in some notorious tax havens around the world, with some in Jersey in the Channel Islands, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today. The Channel Islands…

With a staggering $15.4 billion wealth, Nigeria’s businessman and industrialist, Aliko Dangote, is on Forbes Rich List as the richest man in Africa. But does Mr. Dangote pay his fair share of tax in Nigeria or is he hiding assets abroad? That remains unclear. Yet that question has become even…

At least four assets belonging to the wealthy and famous Saraki family of Nigeria, all tucked away in secret offshore territories, have been uncovered. But the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, failed to declare them to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as required by Nigerian laws. This revelation,…

Many Nigerians would not know where Sao Tome is on the world map, given that the twin island country is of little, if any, strategic importance to Nigeria. That however did not stop former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2004, from doling out $5 million as loan to that nation. Mr.…

On Thursday, January 28, Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), received a letter. The two-paragraph letter from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, made only one request from the anti-graft chief. Signed by…

The Nigerian government is set to retrieve one of Africa's richest oil blocs from oil giants, Shell and Eni, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt. Not only will the two oil giants lose OPL 245, should President Muhammadu Buhari approve the recommendations, they will also be fined billions of dollars for illegal…

Members of the Public Accounts Committees in the 7th Senate and House of Representatives, statutorily responsible for ensuring probity and accountability in the nation’s financial system, compromised the Money Laundering Act during their tenure, documents in the possession of PREMIUM TIMES have shown. Members of the committee as well as…

Nigeria’s lawmaking body, the National Assembly, is entangled in horrid abuse of the nation’s financial regulations, especially in its banking transactions, in the last six years, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report. Investigation by this newspaper, spanning weeks, revealed that between 2009 and 2015, the management arm of the federal legislature…

Fresh details have emerged on how members of the National Assembly Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution withdrew N7.75 billion purportedly to amend Nigerian constitution. PREMIUM TIMES had last week exposed how the federal lawmakers collected the money in tranches to purportedly alter the document between 2011 and…

Nigerian federal lawmakers, led by incumbent Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, and former Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, withdrew a princely N7.75 billion of public funds in four years to purportedly review sections of the 1999 Constitution, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today. In an investigation lasting months, this…