Man Petitions UK Authorities Over Tinubu’s Port Deal With ‘Convicted Money Launderer’ Chagoury
A Nigerian activist and commentator, Kio Amachree, has petitioned several United Kingdom oversight agencies over President Bola Tinubu’s reported award of a Lagos ports refurbishment project to his close ally, Gilbert Chagoury, a “convicted money launderer” and the British government’s financial backing of the deal.
Amachree disclosed this in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, alongside a screenshot of correspondence from UK Export Finance (UKEF), which showed that the agency had responded to a complaint he submitted.
According to him, the petition challenged the UK’s decision to support a project involving Chagoury, whom he described as “a convicted money launderer and Sani Abacha’s principal bag man.”
The activist said he questioned how the British government could justify doing business with individuals facing such allegations while often criticising corruption in other countries.
“I wrote to several oversight agencies in the United Kingdom regarding President Tinubu’s decision to award the refurbishment of the Lagos Ports to Gilbert Chagoury — a convicted money launderer and Sani Abacha’s principal bag man, who helped steal hundreds of millions of dollars from the Nigerian people,” Amachree said.
“My central question to each of them was this: how can the British government do business with known criminals while simultaneously casting Nigerians as corrupt? Is that not the very definition of hypocrisy?”
He added that his complaint sought an explanation for the reported £746 million UKEF guarantee connected to the project.
Amachree claimed that British authorities had reviewed the materials he submitted and responded after conducting their own assessment.
However, he did not disclose the contents of the response he received from UKEF.
The Facebook post also alleged that authorities in the United Kingdom were taking the matter seriously and that relevant agencies had been provided with information from multiple sources.
Amachree further stated that he could not comment on details of any ongoing processes, citing what he described as legal and investigative protocols.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
