Human rights lawyer, Maxwell Okpara, has challenged various state governors in Nigeria to a public debate to explain how they accumulated their wealth, alleging that politicians who have spent decades in government with nothing to show in terms of prior business ventures are criminals who converted public funds into personal empires.
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Okpara threw the challenge on Wednesday during a live appearance on Arise Television, where he also reacted to demands by Action Aid Nigeria for investigations and possible impeachment proceedings against governors allegedly using public funds to bankroll political campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Responding to denials by the Progressive Governors’ Forum over allegations of misuse of public funds for political activities, Okpara dismissed the denials as predictable and hollow.
“Have you ever seen any thief who agrees that he is a thief? Have you ever seen one, especially in Nigeria? Are you expecting them to agree? We know that these guys are thieves, for goodness’ sake,” he said.
“I challenge them to a debate. Personally, I’m a lawyer. I’m a lawyer and I’m a lecturer. I can comfortably tell you how I made my money. Let them come and tell me how they made their money.”
He questioned how politicians who have held public office since 1999 and controlled hundreds of billions in public allocations could amass estates, real estate holdings, and branded vehicles on government salaries alone.
“So, you have been in government since 1999 up to this extent and watched over N500 billion, if not trillions. You are a thief. And you’re telling me that there is an allegation which allegation? The facts are there,” he declared.
“How much is your monthly take-home that you have real estate all over the place? When they come to your state, they will say you are the owner of this, you are the owner of this. For crying out loud, this is looting. This is fraud. Let us call the name. That’s why my mentor, Gani Fawehinmi, doesn’t mince words call the appropriate name.”
Okpara rejected the characterisation of the governors’ conduct as mere “allegations,” insisting that the evidence was self-evident and required no formal petition before anti-corruption agencies could act.
“There is nothing like an allegation. It’s a true fact. If you watch the challenges we are having in our country today, it is accountability. What I can’t fathom is the reason why a state will have billions of naira as statutory allocation apart from IGR and nothing to show for it,” he said.
“And you will see somebody who has never done anything in his life apart from politics he has real estate all over the place, both here and abroad, properties all over the place. This is crime.”
He noted that both the EFCC Act and the ICPC Act empower anti-corruption agencies to initiate investigations without waiting for formal petitions.
“You don’t even need any petition from any angle. Because when you discover that this is somebody who has not done anything in his life apart from politics and you control over N300 billion you are a criminal. This is public fund, for Christ’s sake, and you should be investigated.”
Okpara alleged that governors who have looted state funds over four- or eight-year tenures routinely sponsor political allies into the Senate, House of Representatives, and state houses of assembly in order to secure protection after leaving office.
“When a governor has looted the fund meant for his state for four years or eight years as the case may be and he is about to leave, he is looking for somebody that will protect his interest in the state and at the federal level,” he said.
“That’s why you see most of them sponsoring senators, sponsoring House of Representatives members and state house of assembly members. So you now see somebody who has not done anything and is buying a senatorial expression of interest form of N30 million you have branded cars, you have offices here and there. Who is giving you that money? It is the governor who is sponsoring you.”
He cited the example of Peter Obi, who he said voluntarily presented himself to the EFCC and cleared his name, arguing that every governor and their sponsored candidates should be subjected to the same scrutiny.
“They did it to Peter Obi. Peter Obi went to the EFCC and cleared himself. They should be able to invite them each and every one of them.”
While Action Aid Nigeria has demanded impeachment proceedings against guilty governors, Okpara dismissed the prospect as unrealistic, describing state houses of assembly as politically captured institutions incapable of holding governors accountable.
“Impeachment is completely out. Who are those that are going to impeach? This rubber-stamp state house of assembly that we have those that are already under the pocket of the governor are the people that will do the impeachment. That one is a no-go area,” he said.
He also ruled out public protests as a viable mechanism, alleging that any attempt at peaceful demonstration in Nigeria is met with the full weight of state security apparatus.
“Immediately you say you are going to protest, you will see the governor, you will see the police, you will see the DSS they will launch the whole security apparatus against you. So the issue of protest is out.”
Okpara accused President Bola Tinubu of abandoning the Supreme Court’s directive on local government financial autonomy in order to secure the support of state governors for his 2027 re-election bid.
“The president has decided to consider his 2027 ambition over that of the masses, because he is the person that the Supreme Court ordered let there be financial autonomy for every local government,” he said.
“But because the governors have threatened the president if you enforce this thing, we are not going to support you the president can no longer enforce it. Had it been that we have financial autonomy of local government, this thing can be checkmated.”
Okpara said the absence of functioning oversight mechanisms from compromised state assemblies to restricted access to public financial records under the Freedom of Information Act meant that anti-corruption agencies remained the last credible line of defence against executive impunity.
“If you apply now to get the allocation records using my state as an instance in most states and local governments they will not give you. Even when you go to court under the Freedom of Information Act, you will have difficulty scaling through,” he said.
He called on civil society organisations, journalists, and anti-corruption agencies to jointly “launch an attack” through forensic audits of state governments.
“If actually they are ready to work the international community is looking at us. We are calling on the EFCC, ICPC: let us launch investigation, forensic audits on all these state governors so that they will stop misusing public funds for political campaigns,” Okpara declared.
“In any serious society, such unexplained wealth should automatically trigger investigation and accountability. Can you do it in Canada? Can you do it in America? Can you do it in Germany? Those are places that have mechanisms for checkmating how public funds are being used.”
He concluded by invoking the plight of ordinary Nigerians: “When you see that beggar on the street, he is paying the price — because this money is meant for them. How can we be making this kind of money and Nigeria is rated one of the poverty headquarters of the whole world? Go to the North and see what is going on.”
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