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A coalition of 117 civil society organisations has petitioned President Bola Tinubu and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, asking both to review the appointment of Senator Jimoh Ibrahim as Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in light of a N69.4 billion debt judgment against him, unresolved criminal tax charges in the Federal High Court and more than N850 million in unpaid wages and allowances owed to former workers of the defunct NICON Airways.
Ibrahim's appointment as Nigeria's man at the UN in New York was among 65 ambassadorial postings announced by the Tinubu administration last month. In December 2025, the Senate confirmed his nomination. On Wednesday, Ibrahim said he had received his letter of credence and had been cleared, formally commencing his duties.
The CSO petition, signed by groups including Yiaga Africa, Hope Behind Bars Africa and Media Rights Agenda, describes Ibrahim's nomination as a matter of "significant national and international consequence" and calls on both Tinubu and Guterres to act with due consideration of his legal and financial record before his posting is formalised at the multilateral body.
What the petition says
The coalition cited three main areas of concern, all drawn from public court records and regulatory actions.
The largest involves AMCON. AMCON, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, is a federal government body established in 2010 to acquire non-performing loans from Nigerian banks and recover the underlying debts. It was created in the aftermath of a near-systemic banking crisis as a mechanism to clean up lenders' balance sheets and pursue borrowers who had walked away from large facilities. AMCON buys distressed loan portfolios from commercial banks, often at a discount, and then pursues the original borrowers through the courts and asset seizures for the full amount owed. Its enforcement powers are unusually broad: it can obtain court orders to seize property and freeze bank accounts without the procedural delays that apply in ordinary civil litigation. Debtors who end up in AMCON's recovery machinery typically face years of litigation, asset lockdowns and public exposure of their finances. Ibrahim is one of its most prominent and longest-running targets.
In November 2020, following an order by Justice Rilwan Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Lagos, AMCON seized 12 properties belonging to Ibrahim and froze all accounts held by him and his companies, including NICON Investment Limited and Global Fleet Oil and Gas Limited. The debt, originally a N26 billion loan facility taken from Union Bank in 2008 and 2009, had grown to N69.4 billion with accrued interest by the time AMCON, which had purchased it as a non-performing loan, moved to enforce recovery. The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division subsequently dismissed Ibrahim's appeal challenging the asset seizures. The case has continued through further legal proceedings and the debt has not been settled.
Ibrahim's business record, as documented in court proceedings and regulatory filings, is one of acquired companies that subsequently collapsed, workers left unpaid and debts unresolved. AMCON said publicly that he and his companies had been "recalcitrant and unenthusiastic" about repayment despite multiple exit opportunities offered over the years.
The second issue concerns the former workers of NICON Airways. Ibrahim acquired EAS Airlines from former Kogi governor Idris Wada in July 2006 and renamed it NICON Airways. The airline ceased operations in 2007 after poor maintenance of its Boeing 737 fleet grounded the company, leaving employees without wages. Workers brought proceedings before the National Industrial Court in 2011, seeking payment of accrued salaries, leave allowances and pension funds. The CSOs allege the outstanding obligations stand at more than N850 million and that Ibrahim has failed to honour the court ruling, instead appealing the judgment.
The third matter involves the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which in 2013 filed a 10-count criminal charge against Ibrahim personally over alleged non-payment of N4.86 billion in taxes across five years and the production of forged Tax Clearance Certificates used to renew expatriate quota positions for 30 persons. That charge remains before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
What the CSOs are asking for
The coalition's requests to both Tinubu and the UN are specific. They want a review of Ibrahim's appointment "with due consideration of existing legal proceedings, court judgments, and financial obligations on record." They also want public clarification on the status of the Federal High Court cases and the AMCON recovery process, transparency on the due diligence standards applied in vetting senior diplomatic appointments, and assurance that appointments to international representation positions are consistent with Nigeria's stated commitments to the rule of law.
The petition also addresses the UN directly, reminding the UN Secretariat of the importance of its own accreditation due diligence standards for member state representatives.
"The Permanent Mission is the sovereign voice of over 220 million Nigerians within the multilateral system," the CSOs said in the petition. "Its credibility is directly linked to the integrity, legal standing, and public record of its representative."
Nigeria's seat as Permanent Representative to the UN carries significant weight in multilateral diplomacy. The holder participates in Security Council deliberations, General Assembly proceedings and a wide range of UN body negotiations, representing Africa's most populous nation at a level where the personal standing of the envoy is inseparable from the country's credibility.
Ibrahim and the Tinubu administration had not publicly responded to the petition at the time of publication.
