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

Multiple sources within the CCB confirmed the investigation to PREMIUM TIMES after the newspaper sought an update on the bureau’s handling of allegations involving public officials named in the international investigations.

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.

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.