The timely breaking of the news on the October 2025 Coup is one of numerous instances where the Sahara Reporters ought to have gotten its due as the conscience of the Nigerian nation.
Circa 2014, I was a rabid supporter of Bola Ahmed TInubu. I was blinded by his prowess as a dogged opposition leader. Everything about him was gold, I thought. Then came a doctor friend of mine, an eminent professor of medicine in the United States, who I hold in a high esteem, as well. As the debates on 2015 elections raged on, he pointed me to a 2008 report by the Sahara Reporters, a “Verified Complaint for Forfeiture" in Case No. 93 C 4483, which detailed how the U.S. government sought the forfeiture of $460,000 from accounts linked to my then leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The report alleged that the funds were proceeds of narcotics trafficking.
I was in a dilemma. I saw TInubu as Saint. But I also was a huge fan of Sahara Reporters for its investigative journalism. Yet, my doctor friend never brings up a controversial topic without conducting necessary research. The density of my dilemma then doubled. But nothing could make me to abandon TInubu at the time. The opportunity of an opposition party capturing the presidency was glaring as it appeared God-sent. Moreover, as I then thought, TInubu was not running for president. Buhari was. I also thought that the presidency would rotate to the east after Buhari. So, the chances of a drug Lord becoming my president never crossed my mind.
This drug matter came up again as Tinubu indeed ran for President. But, as in the past, the TInubu machine pounced on the Sahara Reporters, the paper that broke the original news.
The rest is history. Tinubu became president, and Nigerians would learn after wards that he was indeed complicit in the drug trafficking charge. Nigeria is today paying a huge price for it.
There are other instances where the Sahara Reporters went above and beyond to break consequential news stories that have gone to shape the Nigerian democracy. The most recent is the coup plot of October 2025 which, if successful, would have overthrown the regime of Bola TInubu and ended the Nigerian democracy, by consequence.
However, rather than being honest and transparent, the Nigerian government flatly denied the coup plot. But to Nigerians, regardless of the morbid efforts by the different regimes to downplay its authenticity, Sahara Reports is generally seen as the conscience of the nation for its history of speaking truth to power. Therefore, despite the government denial, an overwhelming majority of Nigerians believed the Coup report.
Transparency and honesty are essential ingredients to maintain legitimacy in democratic systems. Therefore, concealing such critical security information created an undue wave of rumor, fear, suspicion, and a thick cloud of uncertainty. Though the government would reveal months later that there was indeed a very thick coup plot, the damage was already done. In short, the initial denials made the state to appear weak. manipulative, and untrustworthy. It also grossly undermines the credibility of the Armed Forces and causes citizens to question any subsequent official statement relating to national security. Telling the truth, regardless of whoever or which paper that breaks the news, assures the public that the government is committed to transparency and accountability. The infantile secrecy with the coup suggests the government is either hiding the true extent of the danger or that it uses the coup to manipulate the citizenry for sheer political gains.
Sahara Reporters deserves support, not intimidation. Founded in 2006 by Omoyele Sowore, the Sahara Reporters has quickly filled the investigative vacuum left by traditional media . It shifted the paradigm towards citizen-driven transparency and accountability. Most eloquently, the online paper has continued to fearlessly expose corruption among the political elite. It has also filled the vacuum left by a rubber stamp legislature by constantly checkmating the executive branch. .
Before Sahara Reporters and, of course, the rise of online publications, the Nigerian media landscape was generally limited by government censorship, political patronage, and limited resources for robust investigative journalism.
Sahara Reporters sacrifices immensely to epitomize the fundamental role of the news media in Nigeria as the Fourth Estate, which is to serve as an essential, independent pillar of democracy, acting as a watchdog to ensure transparency and accountability. It also provided broad checks on the other three arms of government: legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
Where will Nigeria be without the Sahara Reporters? Where does one begin and where does one end when it comes to how the news organization has broken news that shaped our democracy?
Recall how the Sahara Reporters broke the news about the true state of President Umaru Yar'Adua’s health. By exposing the secrecy surrounding his medical incapacitation in Saudi Arabia, the political class was able to save the Nigerian democracy by confronting a power vacuum that ultimately led to the invocation of the "Doctrine of Necessity."
Sahara Reporters is at it gain. It is no longer news that President Bola Ahmed TInubu is a true definition of an invalid, a decrepit—a very sick, feeble and frail person. Yet, he continues to deceive the country by hiding its extent from the Nigerian people. Thank God the Sahara Reporters is not going anywhere.
The newspaper has consistently carried out investigative coverage of Bola Tinubu’s health struggles. The Sahara Reporters steadily highlights his frequent, often secret medical trips to overseas, most of which are to tend to his failing health. By constantly reminding the people of his needless vacations overseas or rather frequent hospitalization, trembling hands, and inability to walk without assistance, the Sahara Reporters has shattered the official narrative of a perfectly fit president. TInubu himself has not helped matters. Notice how he falls up and down at different events home and abroad. Nigeria is sadly learning the hard way.
These patriotic efforts on the part of the Sahara Reporters regarding Tinubu’s failing health have provoked the desired national conversation on transparency, leadership capability, and perhaps the necessary national security measures in case of any eventuality. It is worthy of note that our president can hardly walk alone without the help of a patient safely assistant.
The Sahara Reporters cannot do it alone. It is necessary to recognize the role of other online news organizations who have followed the footsteps of the New York based outfit. The traditional Nigerian media must also recognize Sahara Reporters and its publisher, Omoyele Sowore, as vital allies in the struggle for press freedom, rather than as foes. The publisher of Sahara Reporters has faced unprecedented state harassment, including the unlawful detention of its founder and unending threats to its staff for exposing high-level corruption and keeping the state accountable. Their immense sacrifices, including operating under intense surveillance, have significantly strengthened the Nigerian media landscape. This has dramatically pushed the mainstream media organizations to embrace a more investigative, fearless journalism. Credit should go to where it is due.
SKC Ogbonnia, a former APC Presidential Aspirant, writes from Ugbo, Enugu State