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A real Nigerian scam

WILL BURGESS/AFP/Getty Images Via allAfrica, Nigerian papers are reporting that the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Comission is investigating ex-President Olesegun Obasanjo for corruption. The former leader is suspected of misappropriating $16 billion in funds meant for Nigeria’s energy sector. The investigation of Obasanjo, along with the firing two senior ministers on suspicion of stealing ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
595758_080327_obasanjo2.jpg
595758_080327_obasanjo2.jpg

WILL BURGESS/AFP/Getty Images

WILL BURGESS/AFP/Getty Images

Via allAfrica, Nigerian papers are reporting that the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Comission is investigating ex-President Olesegun Obasanjo for corruption. The former leader is suspected of misappropriating $16 billion in funds meant for Nigeria’s energy sector.

The investigation of Obasanjo, along with the firing two senior ministers on suspicion of stealing public funds, could be a sign that current president Umaru Yar’Adua is trying to distance himself from the predecessor that essentially appointed him in badly flawed elections last spring.

A word of warning: Should you get an e-mail from “Obasanjo” asking you to look after his money during the investigation, don’t reply.

Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

Read More On Africa | Corruption

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