Segun Ojumu
ABUJA — Nigeria’s diaspora agency has rejected allegations that it failed to account for ₦200m (£100,000 / $130,000) spent on official events in 2023, describing the claims as a politically motivated “campaign of calumny” ahead of the country’s upcoming general elections.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), led by former federal lawmaker Abike Dabiri-Erewa, issued a statement on Saturday dismissing reports published online regarding the missing funds.
The allegations were brought forward by Global Integrity Watch, a UK-based group led by campaigner Abraham Taiwo Adewole.
However, NIDCOM claimed the advocacy group was registered in London less than a month ago—on 17 August 2026—with business filings listing its operations in real estate management, IT consultancy, travel services, and cleaning, rather than public auditing.”The company… is apparently focused on blackmail and witch-hunting,” said Abdur-Rahman Balogun, NIDCOM’s Director of Media and Public Relations, in the statement. He added that the claims were intended to target specific state agencies and personalities for political gain ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 polls. According to NIDCOM, all key events organised in 2023—including the Global African Diaspora Summit, National Diaspora Day, the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit, and the Badagry Door of Return—were fully documented and partially funded through third-party corporate sponsorships. The commission stated that while it would not engage with “social media blackmail”, all accounting records remain intact and will be submitted directly to Nigeria’s Auditor-General and parliamentary oversight committees upon request.
NIDCOM was established by the Nigerian government in 2017 to engage the country’s massive international diaspora, which remits tens of billions of dollars back to the domestic economy annually.
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