Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has asserted his dominance over a list of the most brutal and dishonest politicians in the world.
The notorious award was given out after the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project invited people all around the world to suggest people who should be highlighted for their contributions to promoting illegal activity and escalating poverty.
Following a vote by participants, the Nigerian leader ranked third, according to the group, which organizes a global network of investigative journalists and activists.
Mr. Tinubu was ranked third, after former Indonesian President Joko Widodo, while Kenyan President William Ruto received the most votes.
However, the primary Person of the Year honor went to Bashar al-Assad, the recently overthrown Syrian despot who fled to Russia earlier this month after decades of pillaging the Middle Eastern nation.
OCCRP organizers stated, “The judges recognize the significance of public interest and outrage at corruption.”
The 72-year-old Mr. Tinubu was at the top because of his part in solidifying Nigeria’s corrupt government. Between 1999 and 2003, he served as governor of Lagos for eight years, during which time he and his family accumulated vast riches.
Mr. Tinubu promptly awarded a multitrillion-naira road project to a company owned by his son after taking office as president of Nigeria in May 2023. The dispute did little to dispel widespread suspicions that Mr. Tinubu would loot Nigeria’s coffers, as he did in Lagos in previous decades, and the projected Lagos-Calabar line is Nigeria’s most ambitious infrastructure project to date.
Submissions revealed that participants in the nomination process for the OCCRP ranking were also influenced by Mr. Tinubu’s past as a cocaine dealer in Chicago. Shortly after his inauguration, he was also shaken by accusations of certificate falsification.
He vehemently refuted every accusation of corruption.
A request for comment regarding Mr. Tinubu’s unveiling as a worldwide acknowledged organized crime figure from Peoples Gazette on Tuesday morning was not immediately answered by a representative for the politician.
