GIW’s Witch Hunt: Why NIDCOM Refuses To Be Blackmailed
By: Amina Kabiru
aminakabiru24@gmail.com
There comes a point when the language of accountability becomes a convenient disguise for something else.
The latest campaign by Global Integrity Watch against the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission has crossed that line. What is being presented as an anti corruption crusade increasingly looks like a calculated witch hunt against Nigeria’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies, with NiDCOM and its Chairman, Hon. (Dr) Abike Dabiri Erewa, deliberately placed at the centre of a campaign designed to create pressure and damage reputations.
An audit query is not a declaration of guilt. An unresolved audit observation is not proof that public funds were stolen. And an headline by a blog or mischief makers cannot substitute for an official investigation.
GIW has seized upon an alleged Auditor General’s observation concerning ₦209.09 million allegedly spent on diaspora events in 2023 and presented it as though NiDCOM simply collected the money and failed to deliver.
That is a reckless leap.
Take just one event, the Global African Diaspora Forum, hosted by Nigeria through NiDCOM in 2023, with 16 countries participating. The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States was so impressed with the initiative that it designated Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa as its Diaspora Champion, with plans underway to build its diaspora headquarters in Nigeria.
That is one programme. There were also the National Diaspora Investment Summit, National Diaspora Day, National Diaspora Merit Awards and numerous interventions for Nigerians across the diaspora. The records are available.
If there is a query, NiDCOM will answer it when properly invited. If documents are required, they will be provided. If a discrepancy is established through the proper process, the appropriate authorities should act.
That is accountability.
But before GIW appoints itself judge, jury and public prosecutor over Nigerian institutions, it should submit itself to the same scrutiny. The organisation only publicly launched its principal Nigeria accountability initiative on August 17, 2026. Its Executive Director, Abraham Temitayo Adewoye, is also the sole director of a UK registered company whose stated business activities include information technology consultancy, property management, travel agency activities and specialised cleaning services.
So a direct question is necessary: is GIW an accountability organisation, a cleaning service or a blackmailer?
And to Abraham Temitayo Adewoye, specifically: Comrade, are you a cleaner or a blackmailer?
The question is not an accusation of criminal conduct. It is a legitimate demand for clarity about the organisation, its operations, its funding and the interests behind its increasingly aggressive campaign against public institutions.
What is particularly troubling is the attempt to turn an audit observation into a public accusation before NiDCOM has been formally invited by the relevant authorities to respond.
That is how witch hunts operate. A query becomes an allegation, an allegation becomes a headline, and the headline becomes a verdict in the court of public opinion.
There is also a political dimension that cannot be ignored. Abike Dabiri Erewa is one of the most visible officials associated with the present administration and the All Progressives Congress. With another election cycle approaching, prominent APC figures will inevitably attract intensified political attacks.
But political pressure does not change facts.
Abike Dabiri Erewa is not easily intimidated, and neither is NiDCOM.
If there is evidence, present it. If there is a case, take it to the appropriate authority. But NiDCOM will not be bullied, blackmailed or financially pressured into submission.
Nigeria needs watchdogs, but watchdogs must also be accountable.
NiDCOM will answer legitimate queries through the proper channels.
But it will not answer to intimidation.It will not be distracted
