Prime minister forced to resign over Panama Papers

Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has been forced to resign from office after the country’s Supreme Court declared him unworthy of occupying the country’s highest political office following a probe into his family’s wealth revealed in the Panama Papers Leak of 2015.

The Panama Papers leak is a series of global investigations spanning over a year by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist, ICIJ, German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and 100 other media organisations across the world.

Premium Times was the only Nigerian newspaper to take part in the investigation.

Its reports exposed the secret offshore asset of Senate President Bukola Saraki and his wife Toyin. It also revealed the offshore asset of Mr. Saraki’s predecessor, David Mark.

Other explosive revelations from  Premium Times on the Panama Papers investigations were how late governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, began looting his state and hiding the funds in offshore structures and how a former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, organised the stealing of the oil-rich state’s fund via offshore companies.

It also revealed a network of shell companies in offshore tax havens linked to Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and his brother, Sayyu Dantata, as well as the offshore companies of Wale Tinubu, the chief executive of Nigeria’s biggest indigenous oil company, Oando Plc, among others.