President Bola Tinubu has finished third in a list compiled by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) which “singled out those who do the most to wreak havoc around the world through organized crime and corruption”.
OCCRP describes themselves as “one of the largest investigative journalism organizations in the world, headquartered in Amsterdam and with staff across six continents. We are a mission-driven nonprofit newsroom that partners with other media outlets to publish stories that lead to real-world action. At the same time, our media development arm helps investigative outlets around the world succeed and serve the public.”
Their 2024 Person of the Year is Bashir Assad, the deposed Syrian president. The 2024 finalists were selected as follows:
2024 FINALISTS FOR PERSON OF THE YEAR IN ORGANIZED CRIME AND CORRUPTION
We asked for nominations from readers, journalists, the Person of the Year judges, and others in the OCCRP global network. The finalists who received the most votes this year were:
- President of Kenya William Ruto
- Former President of Indonesia Joko Widodo
- President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu
- Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina
- Indian businessman Gautam Adani
But many Nigerians took to Twitter to vent that Tinubu should top any list of corrupt rulers. Olamilekan A tweeted:
Endyy09 added: “We know who suppose dey number 1 for this list but he rigged himself to another position”. Rita C Chima posted: “They should re-conduct it, how can Tinubu be 3rd? Na 1st im be”. In a similar vein, Marian Odiete wrote: “They’re wrong tinubu is the number one corrupt man in the world not number 3″.
Free provided a prayerful response: “Please o, they should give him first position! Else, Baba will redouble, triple, quadruple all efforts to claim that 1st place in 2025, meaning we’re speaking French before 2025 ends, as he would have sold the nation finish. Please, who do we need to send prayers to their email to rectify this sacrilege???” While Osagie Iyoha asked the courts to intervene: “Maybe it was rigged. Someone took his first position. He should go to court.”
The judges for the OCCRP award include investigative journalists, academics and renowned anti-corruption expert Susan Hawley.
