Malice, not facts: Debunking Sowore’s claims against Senator Ned Nwoko

Fred Akpewe

For nearly five years, Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, has repeatedly targeted Senator Ned Nwoko with allegations many observers describe as personal, vindictive and unsupported by facts.

Senator Nwoko has since approached the courts, filing libel and defamation suits against Sowore. Unable to substantiate his claims, and at times reportedly denying ownership of Sahara Reporters, Sowore has increasingly taken to social media to sustain what critics describe as a campaign of demonisation against the senator.

Central to Sowore’s claims is an allegation of land grabbing in Idumuje-Ugboko, Delta State. However, available records indicate that no such case exists in law or fact.

All lands linked to Senator Nwoko were legally acquired, with proper documentation, the consent of land-owning families and in accordance with Delta State land laws. No court of competent jurisdiction has ever ruled that Senator Nwoko illegally acquired land.

Land ownership, observers note, is determined by statutory records and judicial pronouncements, not by social media accusations.

Senator Nwoko, an indigene of Idumuje-Ugboko, is widely known for his investments in the community. He established the first Sports University in sub-Saharan Africa in the town—an institution approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and now in its third academic year. Through the Ned Nwoko Foundation, several students, including indigenes of Idumuje-Ugboko, benefit from scholarships.

Other projects linked to the senator, including Mount Ned, have reportedly boosted tourism, employment and global visibility for the community. Critics, therefore, question the logic of accusing a man of dispossessing a community he has consistently invested in.

Multiple official investigations have also cleared Senator Nwoko of land-grabbing allegations. In 2000, a monitoring team constituted by the Inspector-General of Police reportedly absolved him and instead charged the complainants for making false statements. Similarly, a Delta State Government white paper issued in February 2021, as well as reports by the Aniocha North Local Government Council, found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Despite these findings, Sowore has continued to repeat the allegations, critics say, without presenting certified land records or court judgments to support his claims. Observers also note that Sowore is neither from Idumuje-Ugboko nor Delta State and does not represent any known indigene of the community.

The controversy has at times extended to Senator Nwoko’s wife, actress Regina Daniels—a move critics describe as irrelevant, given that the land acquisitions in question reportedly predate their marriage.

Beyond the land issue, Sowore has also criticised Senator Nwoko’s longstanding malaria advocacy, including his 2000 expedition to Antarctica to draw global attention to malaria eradication.

Senator Nwoko later became the first African to hoist the Nigerian flag at the South Pole, an effort supporters say helped spotlight malaria as a major public health challenge in Africa.

Through the Ned Nwoko Foundation, the senator has organised malaria awareness campaigns, engaged government institutions and international partners, and supported vaccine research.

In 2025, he reportedly committed over $20 million towards malaria vaccine research and development, including collaborations with researchers in the United States and the United Kingdom.

As a serving senator, Nwoko has also sponsored a bill to establish a National Agency for Malaria Eradication, which has passed second reading in the Senate.

Commentators argue that Sowore’s repeated attacks, despite multiple official reports clearing Senator Nwoko, suggest a pattern driven more by personal animosity than evidence.

They urge the activist-publisher to rely on verifiable facts rather than recycled allegations, warning that persistent misinformation undermines public discourse and journalistic credibility.

Fred Akpewe, Senior Media Analyst