**TrackNews Online | Investigative Report**
A serving senior official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Sophia Apunegbe Mbakwe, acquired a $590,000 luxury mansion in Georgia, United States, in August 2019, while serving as Secretary of the corporation’s Tenders Board, property records obtained by TrackNews have revealed.
The five-bedroom property, located at 11395 Crestview Terrace, Johns Creek, Georgia, is now estimated to be worth $889,500, representing an appreciation of $299,500 over its original purchase price.
The acquisition raises questions about asset declaration requirements for Nigerian public officers, particularly given Mbakwe’s position at the time as Secretary of the NNPC Tenders Board, the body responsible for processing and clearing contracts within the state-owned oil corporation.
### $590,000 PROPERTY ACQUIRED IN ONE WEEK
Records from Fulton County, Georgia, show that Mbakwe purchased the property from Providence Group of Georgia through a grant deed dated August 2, 2019.
The transaction was officially recorded on August 6, 2019, under document number 0603660011 in Deed Book 60366.
The property was acquired for $590,000, approximately ₦180.6 million at the prevailing exchange rate of about ₦306 to the dollar at the time.
The purchase was financed through a combination of personal funds and mortgage financing.
According to the property records, approximately $177,000 was provided as a down payment, while the remaining $413,000 was secured through a conventional mortgage from Citadel Servicing Corporation.
The mortgage was dated August 6, 2019, the same day the deed was recorded.
At the prevailing exchange rate, the mortgage represented approximately ₦126.4 million.
The records identify the purchaser as Sophia A. Mbakwe, while other property and company records identify her full name as Sophia Apunegbe Mbakwe.
### INSIDE THE $889,500 GEORGIA MANSION
The property is situated within Brookmere at Johns Creek, Phase 1, Lot 153.
Built in 2018, the mansion features five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and an additional half bathroom, with approximately 3,405 square feet of living space spread across two floors.
It also has a fireplace and sits on approximately 0.21 acres of land.
Property records classify the residence as owner-occupied.
Another detail contained in the records is a mailing address listed for Mbakwe at 11300 Crestview Terrace, Suwanee, Georgia, another property on the same street.
The property’s estimated market value has since increased to approximately $889,500.
Records also show that property taxes amounted to $6,869 in 2023, while its assessed value for 2025 was listed at $427,680.
### SHE WAS NNPC TENDERS BOARD SECRETARY AT THE TIME
Mbakwe’s acquisition of the American property occurred during her tenure as Secretary of the NNPC Tenders Board, a position she held between 2016 and 2020.
Her professional career began in the legal sector. She obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree from Edo State University before attending the Nigerian Law School, graduating in 1993.
In 1995, she joined Norwegian energy company Statoil, where she spent approximately 19 years and rose to become National Procurement Manager.
She joined the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in 2015 as its pioneer General Manager, Contracts and Procurement. By October of that year, she had become General Manager, Supply Chain.
Her subsequent appointments included Group General Manager, Supply Chain, in 2021; Managing Director of NNPC Energy Services in October 2022; and Managing Director of Antan Producing Limited in early 2025.
In April 2025, she was appointed Executive Vice President, Business Services, NNPC Limited, a position she currently occupies.
Her rise through the corporation’s procurement and management structure makes the timing of the 2019 property acquisition an issue that deserves public scrutiny.
### WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY ABOUT FOREIGN PROPERTY AND ASSET DECLARATION?
Nigeria’s Code of Conduct provisions require public officers to declare their assets and liabilities, including properties held within and outside the country.
Under the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, public officers are required to submit declarations upon assumption of office, at the end of every four years and at the end of their tenure.
The declaration requirements cover assets and liabilities belonging to the officer, their spouse and unmarried children under 18.
Foreign assets are also required to be declared, with their value expressed in the currency of the country where they are held.
The Constitution further provides for consequences where a public officer is found to have acquired assets beyond what can reasonably be attributed to legitimate income, gifts or approved loans.
Depending on the circumstances and the findings of the appropriate authorities, violations can attract removal from office, disqualification from holding public office for up to ten years and forfeiture of improperly acquired assets.
However, the existence of a foreign property does not, by itself, establish a breach of the Code of Conduct. The source of funds, applicable declarations, liabilities and any relevant approvals must be examined before reaching such a conclusion.
### THE QUESTIONS NNPC AND THE BUREAU OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT MUST ANSWER
The Fulton County records establish that Sophia Apunegbe Mbakwe acquired the Georgia property in August 2019, during her tenure as Secretary of the NNPC Tenders Board.
However, the central question is whether the property was properly captured in her statutory asset declarations.
TrackNews has not established from publicly available declaration documents whether the Georgia mansion was declared to the Bureau of the Code of Conduct.
The relevant authorities therefore need to clarify:
1. Whether Mbakwe declared the Georgia property in her statutory asset declarations.
2. Whether the $177,000 down payment was adequately accounted for in her financial declarations.
3. Whether the $413,000 mortgage liability was properly disclosed.
4. Whether the property was included in subsequent four-year asset declarations.
5. Whether the Bureau of the Code of Conduct has ever examined the acquisition.
NNPC Limited and the Bureau of the Code of Conduct should provide clarification on the matter.
The investigation is not a finding of wrongdoing against Mbakwe. Rather, it raises legitimate questions about transparency, public accountability and compliance with Nigeria’s asset declaration laws.
A public officer’s foreign property holdings are not automatically evidence of misconduct. But when such an acquisition occurs while the officer occupies a sensitive position in a public institution, transparency demands that the relevant questions be answered.
**TRACKNEWS ONLINE will continue to examine the records and seek responses from the relevant authorities.**
