Sonala Olumhense’s alleged smear campaign on Jimoh Ibrahim dead on arrival.
Except for the fact that a warrior’s horse is never big in the estimate of his detractors, one ordinarily wouldn’t expect a harsh criticism of the appointment of Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, CFR as Nigerian Head of Mission and Permanent Representatives of Nigeria to the United Nations; but arm chair critics are expectedly blind to achievement and just like a drowning swimmer holds on to anything so as not to get permanently drowned , the critic seems to be behaving true to type. Lately some hatchet writers have launched a campaign to discredit the public image of Senator Jimoh Ibrahim. As we begin this Oped, we make bold to say that Jimoh Ibrahim goes beyond a brand that can be tarred with the brush of negative media to discredit him or to make attempt to rubbish his streaks of successes both on the business stage and on the political stage. And Just so that we are clear, a popular brand needs no self defence as the sparkle of the brand is a defence on its own. This piece is not about defending Senator Jimoh Ibrahim , he is a brand that stands tall and firm and convincingly defends himself . Rather, this piece is about setting the record straight so that the attempt to misinform the general public about Senator Jimoh Ibrahim by one Sonala Olumhense in The Punch personal feature he wrote will not go unchallenged as this will put in perspective the strides of the Senator which qualifies him for the Nigerian UN top job , which obviously The Punch writer is in the dark about.
A feeble attempt which tilts towards intimidation occupied the first paragraph of Sonala Olumhense’s story about ‘The Third Floor of the UN headquarters where the press works.’ It is very clear that the writer is oblivious of the fact that Senator Jimoh Ibrahim is not giving to intimidation. For a cerebral gentleman, who bagged two different doctoral degrees abroad and from well heeled globally recognized institutions of learning, being appointed by The Presidency as UN permanent Rep was not an error of judgement. However, we sympathize with the writer who probably from his bile filled writing had in mind another candidate for the UN job.
Let us cut to the chase, Dr. Jimoh Folorunsho Ibrahim, CFR, member of the 10th Senate until his recent Ambassadorial appointment is a man of different part to different people. It is okay for Sonala to quote court cases out of context to win cheap content blackmail against the Jimoh Ibrahim business brand on the pages of The Punch but the fact check is that regardless of the rumoured projection that his story dripped with, Ibrahim continues to stand tall as a successful Nigerian business magnate and no court has rubbish his enviable business image even if Sonala sees Jimoh from a prejudiced prism. While Sonala intended to run away with an obvious ignorant information about what the court says, here are the facts on Amcon: Jimoh Ibrahim won this case at the Supreme Court in a judgement delivered on 16th January, 2026. We are amazed that as recent as this ruling is Sonala, a Punch writer could not avail himself of necessary information before rushing to write his piece of misinformation in a respected national daily. We challenge Olumhense to controvert our assertion here with concrete evidence and not by heaping some rumour mongering beer parlour vibes about Jimoh Ibrahim. We make bold to put it on record here that Jimoh Ibrahim was never convicted for any criminal offense in his life; he is not currently standing any criminal trial, he is not bankrupt and can never be and above all, he is eminently qualified to be Secretary General of The United Nations.On NICON, the Lagos High Court ordered Union Bank to pay Ibrahim about 450 billion Naira; the court in suit no LD/1085/2010 delivered on 9th July,2025 did not convict Ibrahim rather it ordered Union Bank to pay back! The outcome of The Newswatch case is in the open; Ibrahim did not just win the case, he evolved as the owner of the company. We challenge Sonala to provide contrary evidence. Ibrahim never owed FIRS taxes. He bought a company from Richard Branson -Virgin Nigeria which owed company taxes. Interestingly, the matter was dismissed in court as an individual cannot be made to pay taxes owed by a company bought. We challenge Sonala Olumhense to provide contrary evidence. On Air Nigeria, which Sonala hoped to make Capita from, Ibrahim won the case at The Court of Appeal.
While Sonala Olumhense claims that he watches with grief as Senator (Dr) Jimoh Ibrahim is set to resume as Nigerian Head of Mission at The UN, and while we admit that he is entitled to his self imposed grief over another man’s appointment, Sonala, who self confessed that many Prominent Nigerians have congratulated Ibrahim should know better that if those Nigerians are not convinced of the worth of Ibrahim, they would tuck in their congratulatory messages.
Sonala’s speak “The building, just one block from the UN is in effect, a ghost ….” and one dare asks who else goes to turn the ghostly building into an active stable of international diplomacy with Nigeria as the center of its foreign policy, if not Jimoh Ibrahim?
Where was Sonala Olumhense when Jimoh Ibrahim evolve in the 10th Senate as the eyes of The National Assembly on the global stage? His Legislative strides in just two years in The Senate has proven that the Igbotako born Billionaire business mogul, academic par excellence and grassroots politician of no small statute came to The Red Chamber prepared for the lofty task of nation building.
Having bagged Masters Degree in International Relations from a notable Ivy league University alongside a well researched Doctorate Degree in War Studies, the Leadership of The Senate under the Senate Presidency of Senator Godswill Akpabio couldn’t have found a better foreign relations expert to chair The Senate Committee on Interpaliamentary worldwide. Senator Jimoh Ibrahim was intentional in his projection on the need for the developed countries of the world to compensate Africa for carbon emissions on the continent. That is his quintessential stand point on Climate change. This formed the basis of his speech at The United Nations Climate Change Confab in Dubai on 3rd February, 2024. Incase Sonala is not aware, Ibrahim presided over the UN Interpaliamentary Union in Geneva in 2023 and he is a current serving member of ECOWAS Parliament , member of the Executive of Africa Parliament.
Cerebral to the point of causing detractors untold headache, Ibrahim is the first scholar on earth to earn a Doctorate in Business since 1209 and he is a group graduate of Oxford, Harvard, LSE and Ife. Except for the likes of Sonala who do not see anything good in a honest achievement, Ibrahim, we dare say, is the best that Nigeria can send to The UN as Permanent Representative at this time. We sincerely appreciate President Bola Tinubu who recognized all these commendable traits in Ibrahim. For the records, Jimoh Ibrahim was first honored with the Officer of The Federal Republic ,OFR honours by President Yardua while President Good luck Jonathan presented Ibrahim with the CFR national honours in recognition of Ibrahim’s contribution to the nation’s economy.Such honours don’t come easy and are not given to paid arm chair critics!
On different global stages, Ibrahim has sustained his clamour as he canvassed World Leaders support for President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms and Renewed Hope Policies. “We call on World Leaders to examine the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu, which is dedicated to turning around the standard of living of the people of Nigeria if well supported by the International Community,” that is the stringent charge of Ibrahim at the 5- day Economic Forum held in Davos in January 2024.
If the Presidency is enamoured of the international engagement of Senator Ibrahim as head of Interpaliamentary committee of The Senate, it will not be out of place to consider him as the man and the brand well suited for the UN job. If Sonala Olumhense and his co- travelers in calumny are too disconnected from the polity to observe the legislative strides of Ibrahim and his rising profile in Interpaliamentary activities worldwide, we offer them our genuine sympathy as their arm chair criticism that borders on malice aforethought against the Jimoh Ibrahim brand holds no water. Rather it exposed them as people who think the job of Nigerian Permanent UN Rep should not go to an average Yoruba man no matter the level of his commitment on the global stage.
It is laughable in the least to assume Sonala will drop the innuendo that ‘Ibrahim’s appointment is not a diplomatic strategy. If as Sonala rightly observed that the Nigerian Mission to The US is in comatose, one makes bold to say that it will take a Diplomat of Jimoh
Ibrahim’s status to revamp the comatose state and aside his fear just because the job did not go the way of his preferred candidate, he should note that United Nations already expect Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, who before his UN top job had already become a global citizen and a denizen of international relations.
With reference to the final take of Sonala Olumhense where he says, “this is an insult in real time,” the real insult comes from Sonala, a Nigerian citizen making effort to undermine the image of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Except Sonala lives in his own world where he apportion guilts on personalities he does not like, we are aware and confident of the fact that no court across the globe has indicted President Bola Tinubu of any crime and he has continued to maintain the integrity of Nigeria as a sovereign state. As a well heeled Diplomat who will hold sway as Permanent Representative of Nigerian in The UN, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim will not just represent well the interest of Nigeria but will make the entire African race proud in his new diplomatic tour of duty.
Unknown to the hatchet writer of The Punch Daily, countries of the world do not send personages of questionable character to The UN. United Nations has its own mechanism of running background check within 72 hours on any Ambassadorial nominees posted there. Thus, if Ibrahim was to have any character challenge or credibility issue, the UN would have rejected his nomination. While Sonala bore grudge against Ibrahim’s appointment, the UN has already indicated its readiness to work with the Head of the Nigerian Mission. Sonala Olumhense exposed his poor understanding of how international diplomacy works at the United Nations. While we cannot help to cure him of his ignorance , it takes silence from concerned Nigerians for the misinformation in Sonala’s piece to be taken for a credulous narrative. The obvious fact is while his piece reflects his jaundiced view, there is no iota of truth in his media Projection .
Aseyori Editor2
- March 16, 2026
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