Several senior figures linked to the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari are currently under investigation and prosecution for alleged corruption totalling an estimated N3.47 trillion.
The scale of the allegations, unfolding amid the crippling debt burden left behind by the Buhari-led administration, has reignited debates over accountability, selective justice and the true cost of Buhari’s eight-year presidency.
At the centre of the storm are former ministers and top officials widely perceived as close allies of the late former president and members of the current ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating Chris Ngige, a former Minister of Labour, over an alleged ₦2.2 billion fraud.
In November, the commission declared a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, wanted in connection with an alleged ₦21.4 billion fraud. Sylva worked directly with Buhari, who also served as President and substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The former Minister of Aviation and close political associate, Hadi Sirika, is also facing charges over an alleged ₦2.7 billion fraud linked to aviation projects.
The most far-reaching allegations surround the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, whose tenure coincided with some of Nigeria’s most aggressive monetary interventions, including extensive “ways and means” financing. The EFCC accused Emefiele of arbitrarily allocating ₦3 trillion worth of foreign exchange—equivalent to $2 billion—without competitive bidding or due process, allegedly conferring undue advantages on associates.
Investigators further alleged that he operated 593 bank accounts across multiple countries, unlawfully acquired a 753-unit housing estate in Abuja, and illegally mismanaged over ₦16 billion.
Court filings show that between 2019 and 2022, Emefiele allegedly warehoused funds in proxy accounts linked to Kelvito Integrated Services, amounting to ₦167 million in 2019, ₦1.23 billion in 2020, ₦2.94 billion in 2021 and ₦1.98 billion in 2022, totalling over ₦6.3 billion. Another ₦900 million was allegedly held in an Ifeadigo Integrated Services account.
The EFCC also claimed that a request for the payment of $6.2 million—about ₦8.8 billion—to foreign election observers was forged.
Beyond the financial sector, the EFCC is prosecuting former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, who has been ordered by a Federal High Court in Abuja to answer charges in a ₦33.8 billion money laundering trial. Similarly, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, under former minister Sadiya Umar-Farouk, is accused of laundering ₦37 billion meant for social intervention programmes.
Collectively, allegations involving Buhari-era officials amount to an estimated ₦471 billion in direct naira terms. When the alleged $2 billion foreign exchange allocation is included, the total exposure rises to approximately ₦3.47 trillion, underscoring the staggering magnitude of the cases confronting anti-graft investigators.
The timing of the cases has intensified scrutiny of fiscal stewardship under Buhari. As of December 2015, Nigeria’s total public debt stood at $65.42 billion. After a brief dip in 2016, the debt trajectory reversed sharply, rising to $84.57 billion by 2019, $87.24 billion in 2020, and $95.77 billion by June 2021, with domestic debt alone estimated at ₦35 trillion.
By the end of 2022, Nigeria’s debt stock had ballooned to ₦46.25 trillion. Estimates suggested that by May 29, 2023, Buhari handed over a total debt burden of about ₦77 trillion, a figure that continues to weigh heavily on fiscal sustainability.
Analysts argue that the corruption allegations cannot be divorced from the debt narrative. While the government borrowed aggressively to fund infrastructure and stabilise the economy, critics contend that weak oversight, opaque monetary interventions and politicised spending created fertile ground for abuse.
Supporters of the former administration, however, insist that many of the EFCC’s actions are politically motivated and aimed at undermining Buhari’s anti-corruption legacy.
As the EFCC presses ahead, the unfolding legal battles are expected to test not only the credibility of Nigeria’s anti-graft institutions but also the country’s willingness to confront the structural weaknesses that allowed corruption to thrive alongside unprecedented borrowing.
