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(Abuja, 17 September 2026) – New findings by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) have identified properties in the United States (US) bought and sold by family members of former governor Chimaroke Nnamani that may have passed under the radar of Nigerian and American authorities,. Chimaroke Nnamani was elected governor of Enugu State in 1999, and remained in office for eight years, until 2007. Shortly before leaving office, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), one of Nigeria’s major anti-corruption institutions, launched proceedings against Nnamani, his sister Chinero Nwaigwe, and companies associated with them for stealing and laundering approximately USD 41.8 million from Enugu State.
Nigerian prosecutors alleged that Nnamani and Nwaigwe diverted government funds from Nigeria to their accounts in the US. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) followed the lead and found companies, wire transfers, and a USD 1.8 million property on Bridgewater Drive, Florida, tied to Chimaroke Nnamani.
Investigations by PPLAAF have revealed multiple other properties not mentioned in the Nigerian or US proceedings, all of which are connected to Chimaroke Nnamani through his family members, including two other properties each bought for over USD 1 million. During and after his tenure, Nnamani and his relatives acquired at least nine properties in total in Florida and Virginia, worth several million dollars. Seven of the properties were purchased after the EFCC launched proceedings against him.
“The Nnamani case demonstrates that authorities are aware of the transcontinental laundering of Nigerian public funds into American real estate,” said Jimmy Kande, Executive Director of PPLAAF. “Yet our findings show that the scale of these operations is far greater than what has been uncovered so far. Politically exposed persons linked to international financial crimes – and their family members – must be investigated further.”
On 22 September, PPLAAF will release an investigative report detailing how hundreds of millions of dollars worth of American real estate is connected to current and former high-level Nigerian officials. The report will further reveal the extent of the structures and regulatory gaps that allow stolen public wealth to cross borders and settle quietly into foreign real estate.
A family network unknown to authorities
PPLAAF’s investigation identified two properties on Sammy Joe Drive in Fairfax, Virginia, purchased by by Chinero Nwaigwe, Nnamani’s sister and co-defendant in the EFCC case against him. The first was bought in 2004 for over USD 708,000 and the second in 2007 for USD 1 million. Both properties were placed into the ‘Nwaigwe Chinero N Trust’, with the second later being sold for USD 1,155 million.
Nwaigwe and her family members also bought two other properties in the same state. One was bought for USD 676,400 and later sold for USD 800,000. The next year, Glostonway LLC, a company managed by Nwaigwe and her husband, purchased the second property for just over USD 701,000 and transferred it for no stated consideration to Nnamani’s daughter, Chinero Yobachi Nnamani. Chinero Nnamani later sold the property for USD 785,000.
Another family member, Ijeoma Nnechi Nnamani, can be linked to property dealings of four more Virginia properties. One of these properties was transferred for no stated consideration to the Ijeoma Nnechi Nnamani Trust. More recently, the purchase of a house co-owned between Ijeoma Nnamani and Chimaroke Ferguson Nnamani, Nnamani’s apparent son, was handled through Chinero Nwaigwe, Nnamani’s sister.
The transfers for no stated consideration, the placing of the properties into trusts, which can function as opaque legal structures to obscure who really owns a property, and the selling of the assets for minimal profit raises serious questions about the source of the funds used to buy them.
Limited accountability, hindered impact
In Nigeria, the EFCC proceedings against Chimaroke Nnamani and his sister began in 2007 and ended in 2018 after a plea bargain was made in 2015. The Court ordered the forfeiture of 22 duplexes, a teaching hospital, a radio station, and numerous plots of land.
In 2022, the FBI found 21 Nigerian wire transfers totaling almost USD 1 million, 10 companies opened with Nwaigwe as a signatory, and a Florida property purchased for USD 1.8 million. Authorities then launched forfeiture proceedings, which were ultimately vacated. The Florida property was later sold for just over half its purchase price.
In the meantime, records obtained by PPLAAF reveal that in January 2022, Chinero Nwaigwe purchased a property in Virginia, for USD 1,499,950. In December of that year, the property was transferred to her brother for no stated consideration. Chimaroke Nnamani was Senator for Enugu state at the time.
PPLAAF calls on the American and Nigerian authorities and regulators to investigate these cross-border financial structures and new properties. Accountability for the potential siphoning off of public funds is fundamental for Nigeria’s prosperity.
About PPLAAF
The Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) is a non-governmental organisation established in 2017 to protect whistleblowers, advocate on their behalf, and undertake strategic legal actions when their revelations concern the public interest of African citizens.
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