A 2024 report by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which listed the Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as one of the five finalists for its Person of the Year, has resurfaced online in what appears to be a coordinated misinformation campaign.
The report, originally published in December 2024, has been recirculated widely on X (formerly Twitter) since Friday, June 28, 2025, with several users sharing it as a recent development.
One notable post came from an X account @PO_GrassRootM, which misleadingly presented the story as a breaking news with the caption below:
“BREAKING: Bola Tinubu ranked as third most c͎o͎r͎r͎u͎p͎t͎ leader in the world.”
As of July 3, 2025, the post had garnered more than 460,000 views with over 3,500 reposts and 7,000 likes.
READ THIS: Skit video showing EFCC officials being harassed by military personnel goes viral
Following the post, some platforms, including Parallel Fact, amplified the claim without context. The story has also been reshared by numerous other accounts within the same period as seen here, here, here and here and here within the period.
CLAIM
President Bola Tinubu ranked the third most corrupt leader in the world by OCCRP recently.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub revealed that the claim is MISLEADING. The report being referenced was released in December 2024, not in June/July 2025. Its spread without proper date and context distorts its context, especially as the 2025 edition of the OCCRP list has not yet been published.
During his 2023 presidential campaign, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, then the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), faced persistent questions about the source of his wealth—a controversy that has followed him all through his political career.
Over the years, serious allegations have emerged linking Tinubu to issues ranging from money laundering and forgery to drug-related investigations.
In May 2023, documents revealed that Seyi Tinubu, the president’s son, had purchased a £10.8 million mansion in London. The property was previously linked to Kolawole Aluko, a fugitive wanted for financial crimes in Nigeria. It had once been listed among assets to be seized by Nigerian authorities.
In the early 1990s, U.S. court documents tied Tinubu to a heroin trafficking investigation centered around a syndicate led by Adegboyega Akande. Tinubu, who then resided in Chicago, was reported to have held multiple bank accounts into which suspicious funds were deposited. Although he was not formally charged, the U.S. government confiscated approximately $460,000 from one of his accounts as part of a civil forfeiture agreement.
DON’T MISS THIS: Amaechi was not arrested over corruption allegation
In its 2024 report, OCCRP named Tinubu as one of five finalists for its “Person of the Year” list, highlighting individuals who had been “especially effective in abusing power for personal gain.”
“We asked for nominations from readers, journalists, the Person of the Year judges, and others in the OCCRP global network,” the organisation said.
“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; and Indian businessman Gautam Adani” respectively.
President Tinubu came in third, based on over 55,000 nominations received globally, the OCCRP reported.
THE VERDICT
The claim that President Bola Tinubu was ranked as the third most corrupt leader recently is MISLEADING. The report being cited was published in December 2024, and no new ranking has been released as of July 2025.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
, which listed the Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as one of the five finalists for its Person of the Year, has resurfaced online in what appears to be a coordinated misinformation campaign.){kind=link}