Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon, a journalist with Legit.ng, has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

What appeared to be a chill Sunday on the internet suddenly turned out differently when news hit the waves that the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari had died.

His spokesperson, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the ex-president died at a Clinic in London. He was 82 years old at the time of his death.

While reflecting on the past president, his ideals, and all that he stood for, it is worth revisiting the controversial issue of his net worth.

The issue of asset declaration has always been controversial among Nigerian leaders, but Muhammadu Buhari became one of the exceptions when he declared his assets in 2015.

BBC reports that as of 2015, Buhari’s assets included the following:

The statement from Shehu emphasised:

“President Buhari had no foreign account, no factory and no enterprises. He also had no registered company and no oil wells.”

Officially, former President Buhari only declared assets at the beginning of his tenure. He did not declare assets at the end of his tenure.

However, in January 2023, he was reported as saying that his assets had remained the same since 2015. This was barely 4 months to the end of his 8-year tenure when he stated publicly that no one could accuse him of embezzlement.

He was speaking at the state banquet organised in his honour in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital, when he declared that he still had no properties outside Nigeria.

Buhari also confirmed that he was returning to farming after leaving the Aso Villa, and in later reports after he left office, he stated that he was living off the proceeds of his farm.

Recall that in 2019, it was rumoured that his children – Yusuf Buhari and Muhammadu Buhari – with a net worth of $2.3 billion, were listed among the richest children of sitting presidents around the world.

This rumour was, however, debunked when a spokesman for Forbes confirmed that they do not list the richest children of sitting presidents.

AFP reported the spokesperson as saying:

“Forbes licensees have not published and have no plans to research such a list,” Matthew Hutchison, senior vice-president of corporate communications, told AFP.

He also confirmed that at the time, Nigeria had only four rated dollar billionaires in the Forbes African Billionaires List 2019. They include Aliko Dangote with $10.3 billion, Mike Adenuga with $9.2 billion, Abdulsamad Rabiu with $1.6 billion, and Folorunsho Alakija with $1.1 billion.

In related news, former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari died in London, on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at the age of 82.

Legit.ng reports that the retired Army Major General led Nigeria both as a military ruler in the 1980s and as an elected president from 2015 to 2023.

He made history by becoming the first candidate to defeat an incumbent president in Nigeria’s elections and was re-elected in 2019.

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Source: Legit.ng