ABUJA, October 29, 2026 — The Presidency on Wednesday accused Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi of hypocrisy, reminding him of alleged undeclared offshore assets linked to the Panama Papers after he criticised the management of public funds by successive Nigerian governments.
President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the remarks in a post on his X account. He was responding to comments by Obi during a radio interview in Nasarawa State, in which the former Anambra State governor argued that Nigeria would have been far wealthier if leaders had kept public funds in banks to generate interest.
“I wish everybody in this country left money in the bank; they have interest. Nigeria would have been so rich that we don’t know what to do with money,” Obi said. He also noted that his administration as Anambra governor had kept public funds in three different banks as part of its resource management approach.
Onanuga dismissed the remarks as inconsistent with Obi’s own record. “Peter Obi just likes saying what he doesn’t practise. Remember the Panama Papers?” he wrote.
The presidential aide continued: “Peter Obi’s undeclared offshore assets and business holdings, when he was Anambra governor were exposed in the global leak reports. And here, Saint Peter is pontificating, fooling his gullible followers.”
The reference relates to revelations from the 2021 Pandora Papers investigation (and associated global leaks including the Panama Papers), which reported that Obi remained a director of NEXT International (UK) Limited for 14 months after becoming governor of Anambra State. The reports also raised questions about the declaration of certain offshore holdings and the operation of a foreign bank account while he was in public office.
Obi has previously stated that he was unaware that jointly owned assets needed to be declared and has maintained that he never diverted public funds. No formal finding of wrongdoing has been publicly concluded against him in relation to the leaks.
The exchange comes amid heightened political tensions ahead of the 2027 general elections. Obi, the NDC flag-bearer, has positioned himself as a critic of the Tinubu administration’s economic management, while the Presidency has repeatedly challenged his credibility and record in office.
As of Thursday, Obi had not issued a direct public response to Onanuga’s latest comments. The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) was recently reported to have assigned case officers to investigate several individuals, including Obi, named in connection with the Panama and Pandora Papers over alleged undeclared offshore interests. The bureau has stressed that the allegations do not automatically establish wrongdoing.
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