President Tinubu named finalist in OCCRP’s 2024 Corruption List

President Bola Tinubu has been named a finalist for the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s (OCCRP) 2024 “Corrupt Person of the Year” award. Established in 2012, this annual recognition spotlights individuals linked to significant corruption or organized crime activities.

According to the OCCRP, Tinubu’s nomination was supported by journalists, readers, and judges within its global network. In 2023, an OCCRP investigation revealed that Tinubu was connected to 20 properties in the UK purchased by his associates during his tenure as Lagos State governor.

Seventeen of these properties were acquired by Oladipo Eludoyin, a close associate and director of Aranda Overseas Corp., between 2004 and 2007.

The report also linked Tinubu’s son, Seyi, to Aranda Overseas Corp., which purchased a $10.8 million property under investigation by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Additionally, the OCCRP cited past allegations of Tinubu’s involvement in money laundering during the 1990s and his forfeiture of $460,000 to the US government in a narcotics-related case.

Tinubu has consistently denied these allegations and emphasized the need for African leaders to address corruption and economic challenges collaboratively.

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Alongside Tinubu, Kenyan President William Ruto was also named a finalist, with many expressing frustration over his administration’s alleged corruption.

The OCCRP awarded a special “Lifetime Non-Achievement Award” to Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Mbasogo, citing decades of resource mismanagement and lavish spending.

The 2024 “Corrupt Person of the Year” title went to ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his role in leading Syria’s Captagon drug trade, which has fueled his authoritarian regime.

Past winners of the OCCRP title include Russian President Vladimir Putin, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and Guatemala’s Attorney General María Consuelo Porras.