Former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell has said that there are at least 115 US Dollar billionaires in Nigeria.
He made the revelation in his book titled “Nigeria – Dancing on the brink”. The Ambassador said that he received the information from a top New York investment bank executive with knowledge of offshore accounts and asset records of high profile Nigerians.
Forbes puts the number of dollar billionaires in Nigeria at 2, a gross understatement of the public wealth hidden in private pockets of politically exposed persons. However in their defense, Forbes only measures corporate assets i.e. wealth that can be traced to shareholdings in listed companies.
He stated this while describing the corruption in the Nigeria and the immense poverty plaguing the nation.
John Campbell was the US Ambassador to Nigeria between 2004 and 2007.