How Premium Times uncovered Nigerians in Panama and Paradise Papers
In 2015, Premium Times became Nigeria’s only media outlet granted direct access to the 11-terabyte Panama Papers leak—11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca—through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Editor-in-chief Mojeed Musikilu recounts how a four-member team worked in secret for over a year, following strict security protocols, to identify Nigerian individuals and businesses in the offshore data.
The April 2016 publication exposed secret offshore assets of prominent Nigerians including Senate Presidents Bukola Saraki and David Mark, Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, billionaire Mike Adenuga, former governors Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and James Ibori, televangelist T.B. Joshua, and then-CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele. The revelations sparked public outrage; the Nigerian government, EFCC, and Code of Conduct Bureau opened investigations.
In 2016, Premium Times again joined the ICIJ’s Paradise Papers investigation—13.4 million documents from Appleby—which revealed offshore ties of Arik Air founder Arumemi Ikhide, Zenith Bank’s Jim Ovia, and additional structures linked to Saraki. Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun then announced tax authorities would cross-check declarations using the data.
Both projects demonstrated the power of cross-border journalistic collaboration, where hundreds of reporters shared resources on encrypted platforms, prioritized depth over competition, and produced stories with global impact. Premium Times published over 30 stories from the Panama Papers alone, contributing to a series that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.