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Umunna, Nigerian Tipped as First Black British PM
Chuka Umunna of Nigerian descent on May 7, 2015, could make history by becoming the first black Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Born in London in 1978, Chuka was bred in the UK. His late father, Bennett, hailed from Anambra State while his Irish mother, Patricia, is a solicitor.
He is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Streatham since 2010 and the Shadow Business Secretary since 2011.
Co-incidentally, Chuka shares startling similarities with the United States President, Barack Obama, who is the first black President of the world’s most powerful nation.
For instance, Chuka is of mixed race, being the child of a Nigerian father and an Irish mother while Obama is also of mixed race, being the offspring of a white American woman and a Kenyan father.
Also Chuka’s father, Bennett, was killed in a mysterious car accident in Nigeria in 1992 while Obama’s father was killed in a car accident in Kenya in 1982.
If history repeats itself as it is being predicted by British political observers, Chuka, who is also a six-foot tall lawyer like Obama, could become the first black Prime Minister in the UK.
Chuka’s life story is perhaps a better guide to his future political direction. It is the story of a rise from the streets of South London (scene of some of Britain’s worse race riots in the 1980s) to the parliament. But it is not the story that some might expect.
His father, Bennett, was a Nigerian labourer, who arrived in Britain in the sixties with one suitcase and no money.
Having borrowed the fare from Liverpool to London, he worked in a carwash, became a successful businessman and died in a car crash when his son was 13.
Bennett began an import-export business trading with Nigeria and was starting to make a decent living when he met Patricia Milmo, a solicitor, at a London party.
She happened to be the daughter of Sir Helenus Milmo, a Cambridge-educated High Court judge and a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Nazi trials. They later got married, a rare combination during a time of high social inequality and racism.
Chuka believed his father was killed because he refused to indulge in corrupt practices when he was running for the governorship of Anambra State during the administration of former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.).
Bennett died after his car ran into a lorry carrying logs along the Onitsha-Owerri highway in Anambra. Bennett had been splitting his time between London and Nigeria – where he unsuccessfully ran for the governorship of Anambra State and had taken a stand against bribery.
At a point Bennett was also the owner of the Rangers International Football Club of Enugu, the darling of the Igbo people.
When quizzed about his father on Sky News, he had this to say: “There was a lot of speculation in Nigeria at the time around his death. He was a national political figure standing on an anti-corruption ticket and refused to bribe anybody.
“We don’t really talk about it because it is not going to bring him back but I think he would be bowled over that his son is now a politician just like him.”
Chuka, an English and French Law graduate from the University of Manchester, who also holds a Master’s degree from Nottingham Law School, says his interest in politics was shaped by seeing extreme poverty while visiting his father’s relatives in Nigeria and the social divide in his own Streatham constituency in the UK. He says that he is “not super-religious” but that his soft-left values are “rooted in my Christianity.”
The 35-year-old Labour Party Member of Parliament, however, has two hurdles to cross if he is to make history in the UK. This is because in the UK, for one to become the Prime Minister, the person must first be a Member of Parliament, the person’s party must win majority of seats out of the 560 seats in the House of Commons during the parliamentary elections and the person must be the leader of his party.
Presently, Chuka is the Member of Parliament for Streatham, a position he has held since 2010 but must re-contest in 2015 and win to retain the seat.
He is also the Shadow Business Secretary, a position held by a member of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government’s Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and develop alternative policies. The office holder is a member of the Shadow Cabinet.
According to the UK Telegraph, Chuka is rumoured to have the strong support of a former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who was also a Labour Party leader.
According to the British newspaper, when asked if he was Blair’s anointed candidate, Chuka said, “I really don’t know anything about that.”
However, when he was pressed further whether he aspired to head his party, he said, “I don’t entertain any discussion beyond winning the election next year. That would be completely hypocritical of me. To start thinking about hypothetical scenarios would be totally indulgent. All my energy is focused on winning the election, and so should everyone’s. It will be very close.”
Chuka is one of the youngest MPs in the UK having been introduced into British politics by the current Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, while he was in his 20s.
It was Milband that helped him become an MP and later made him his Parliamentary Private Secretary before he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet in October 2011. He is tipped to become Miliband’s successor and could become the Prime Minister should the Labour Party win next year’s election.
Chuka, however, claims to hate the comparison of him and Obama which he terms the “construct of lazy journalists.” He sharply divides opinion in British politics. Good-looking, articulate, new-media-savvy and a good orator.
According to FT Magazine, he is not universally popular among his own colleagues, who see more style than substance.
“He just has a knack of alienating people,” said one experienced Labour MP. “He is probably the most natural communicator I’ve seen since Tony Blair. The problem is that each week he has fewer supporters than he did at the start of the week.”
Even potential allies recount stories of apparent slights or snubs. A senior party figure says, “Chuka has put people’s backs up.
They feel he is inaccessible.” Another long-serving MP adds, “The idea of learning the trade first is only for mere mortals, not for him.” Peter Mandelson, the former Labour business secretary who played a key role in Blair’s rise through to the top, thinks the explanation for this is quite simple, “Envy plays a big part in politics,” he says.
Like Blair, Chuka sometimes connects better with those beyond his own circle. John Cridland, head of the CBI employers’ group, calls him “a guy with whom we can do business.” Andrew Tyrie, Tory Chair of the Commons Treasury Committee, say: “He’s extremely talented and charming.” Andrew Adonis, a former Labour minister, sums up his cross-party appeal: “The best politicians are those who look outwards not inwards.”
However, allies of the current British PM, David Cameron, scoffed at the idea that Chuka might represent a threat to Cameron’s second term bid.
“I can’t think of any issue where he’s put us under pressure,” says one close friend of the prime minister. “He’s pretty average – he’s a slick corporate lawyer.”
Also, among his fellow party members, Chuka’s lack of political definition is another source of irritation as some claim they struggle to work out what he really believes in. But Chuka says people should show a bit more patience. “It would be rather unhealthy if after just three years in parliament I was setting out some blueprint for my country,” he says. “What do people expect?”
But some see him as the potential leader of a mainstream 21st-Century Labour party with the kind of crossover appeal of Blair’s New Labour. Despite initial reservations that Chuka might be a bit too left-wing, Blair has started seeing him regularly. “Chuka strikes Tony as very smart,” says one close ally of the former PM. “Business is a particularly important brief in tough economic times and Chuka seems to be rising to the challenge.”
As if Blair’s blessing was not enough, Chuka recalls the “honour” of spending “a small bit of private time with former US President, Bill Clinton, who he describes as one of his political heroes. “I think he defies the left-right description,” Mandelson says in approbation. “He’s part of a generation that transcends those labels.”
He has also recently been to Europe to meet his friend, the French PM, Manuel Valls.
According to statistics, almost 15 per cent of people in Britain describe themselves as “non-white” but the country has never had a party leader from an ethnic minority background. Nobody has ever come close. Chuka confesses that until his late teens he had not even thought about a career in politics because there was “nobody who looked like me” running the country.
Chuka has been vocal in the call for a reduction in government spending as well as issues on immigration. “They [the French] have something like 40 ministers compared to our 80,” he says.
On the EU itself, he has called for reform, saying not long ago that free movement of workers was not intended to mean free movement of jobseekers. “As one of the most pro-European shadow ministers, I don’t think you can ignore the impact that free movement has had on some of our communities,” he says, adding that it has changed because there are “many more EU members.”
He adds, “There’s a number of things we need to look at. Those who tend to raise the issue of immigration with me are my African and Asian constituents. They want confidence there are proper controls.
“They want to see people integrate, which is why we shouldn’t be spending all this money translating documents and [instead] directing resources to ensure people learn English. And you do need to look at free movement.”
Next year’s election may not be based on ethnicity but it obviously will be hard not to notice that a British-Nigerian could become the leader of one of the world’s wealthiest countries.
On the issue of ethnicity, Chuka has this to say, “A lot of people presume – because of my ethnicity – that I come from a particular social background. I am very quick to disabuse people of any sense that I’ve wanted and struggled in the way that, say, my father did. I come from a fairly middle-class background. People try and pigeonhole you in a box and I find that frustrating sometimes.”
If Chuka is hard to pigeonhole, that may be linked to his own pedigree. It seems likely, if not certain, that Chuka, whose name means God is the greatest, is destined to become a larger presence in his party and thus a bigger potential target despite being a person whose father came to the UK from Nigeria without a dime.
The United States has signed a five-year agreement with Nigeria to strengthen its health system, with a strong emphasis on promoting Christian faith-based health care providers.
The Department of State, in collaboration with Congress, will commit nearly $2.1 billion to expand essential preventative and curative services for HIV, TB, malaria, polio, and maternal and child health.
Under the bilateral agreement signed at the weekend, the Nigerian government will increase its domestic health expenditures by nearly $3 billion during the five-year term.
The Memorandum of Understanding is the largest co-investment any country has made to date under the America First Global Health Strategy, said Thomas Pigott, State Department spokesperson.
The MOU was negotiated within the context of Nigeria’s reforms to protect Christian populations from violence and includes significant dedicated funding to support Christian healthcare facilities.
The investments were approved to complement the efforts of Nigeria’s 900 faith-based clinics and hospitals, currently serving millions of people, and strengthen the country’s health infrastructure.
The U.S. government stressed that the President and Secretary of State retain the right to pause or terminate any programs which fails to align with the national interest.
“The Trump Administration expects Nigeria to continue to make progress ensuring that it combats extremist religious violence against vulnerable Christian populations,” Pigott added.
The MOU was signed despite the U.S. designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern and its recent inclusion in the travel ban list, which President Donald Trump premised on terrorism and visa overstay rate.
The America First Global Health Strategy, released in September 2025, covers dozens of countries. It shifts the focus of U.S. health aid to self-reliance, data security, HIV, TB, malaria, and maternal and child health services.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to “urgently direct Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to widely publish a certified true copy of the version of the tax bills received from the National Assembly and a certified true copy of the tax laws signed by you.”
SERAP
The documents requested by SERAP are the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, Nigeria Tax Administration Act; and Nigeria Tax Act.
SERAP urged Tinubu “to direct Mr Lateef Fagbemi to clarify whether the version of the tax bills received from the National Assembly are exactly the same contents as the bills that were signed into law by you and the version ultimately gazetted.”
The body made the demand of President Tinubu in a Freedom of Information request dated December 20, 2025.
It was signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
The organisation said in the FOI request: “The law-making processes including the passing of any bills and signing them into laws, as well as gazetting the laws must meet the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution, the rule of law and separation of powers.
“This means that any passed bills and signed laws must be accessible, authentic, intelligible, clear, legitimate, and predictable so that people can know and comply with them.
“Clarifying whether the version of the tax bills received from the National Assembly are exactly the same contents as the bills that were signed into laws by the President and tax laws ultimately gazetted would promote transparency and accountability, and help to address any threats to Nigerians’ human rights.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government and the Attorney General to comply with our request in the public interest.
“Widely publishing the certified true copies of the tax bills passed by the National Assembly and the tax laws signed by the President and the gazetted versions would also allow Nigerians to identify if the provisions of the laws are consistent with their human rights, and seek effective remedies to challenge any infractions of the rights.
“Your government has the obligations under the Nigerian Constitution and the human rights treaties to which the country is a state party to promptly, independently, impartially, transparently and effectively investigate the alleged unlawful allegations of the tax laws and to ensure full accountability in this case.
“Our requests are brought in the public interest, and in keeping with the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to Nigeria is a state party.
“According to our information, the National Assembly recently alleged that there are unlawful alterations and some material differences between the tax bills passed by the legislative body and the tax laws gazetted by the Federal Government.
“A Sokoto lawmaker, Abdussamad Dasuki, raised the issue under a matter of privilege, drawing the attention of the House to the alleged discrepancies between the harmonised versions of the tax bills passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and the copies gazetted by the Federal Government.
“The National Assembly said the alterations contained in the gazetted copies did not receive legislative approval. These alleged unlawful alterations raise questions over the legality and legitimacy of both the law-making processes and the versions of the tax laws currently being circulated by the Federal Ministry of Information.
“The National Assembly established that substantive provisions were inserted, deleted, or modified after passage by both chambers. Several oversight, accountability, and reporting mechanisms approved by parliament were reportedly removed in the final Acts. New coercive and fiscal powers (e.g., arrest powers, garnish without court order, compulsory USD computation, appeal security deposits) were also reportedly inserted in the final Acts without legislative approval.
“Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantee the right to seek, receive and impart information.
“The Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights impose duties on your government to ensure transparency and accountability in lawmaking processes.
“By the combined reading of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, there are transparency obligations imposed on your government to widely publish the certified true copies of the version of the tax bills received from the National Assembly and the tax laws signed by you.
“The Nigerian Constitution, Freedom of Information Act, and the human rights treaties rest on the principle that citizens should have access to information regarding their government’s activities.”
The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to open governance, transparency and inclusive digital development as the Open Government Partnership (OGP) team formally presented the award and certificate received at the OGP Global Summit Spain 2025 to the Agency’s leadership.
Nigeria emerged as the overall global winner in the Digital Governance category in recognition of the country’s excellence in deploying digital tools and policies to strengthen government transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement. In addition, Nigeria received the Regional Award for advancing Open Digital Governance across Africa and the Middle East, reaffirming its leadership role in promoting open government principles and driving digital transformation across the region.
These recognitions were largely attributed to initiatives led by NITDA in collaboration with civil society partners, such as Dataphyte, which showcased innovative and inclusive approaches to digital governance at the summit.
The summit, which was organised in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, brought together more than 1,500 high-level representatives of governments, civil society leaders, and policymakers from around the world to exchange experiences, best practices, and progress on open government initiatives and implementation on key issues.
Receiving the OGP delegation at NITDA, Inuwa described the recognition as a national honour rather than an institutional one, stressing that the award reflects Nigeria’s collective efforts across government, civil society and the private sector in advancing open governance principles through the digital space.
According to him, such global recognition comes with heightened responsibility to deliver on commitments made under the OGP framework.
“This is not just about NITDA. It is a national recognition, and every recognition comes with responsibility,” the DG said.
“If we fail to execute the commitments we have made, it will not only affect our image locally but also at the international stage. This is also not something NITDA can do in isolation,” he added.
Inuwa linked the achievement directly to the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, noting that digital transformation, transparency, economic diversification, job creation and efficient public service delivery remain central presidential priority areas.
He emphasised that leveraging digital technologies to deepen openness and accountability aligns with national objectives of strengthening institutions, improving governance outcomes and building trust between government and citizens.
Highlighting the importance of collaboration, the NITDA boss underscored the role of the OGP platform as a catalyst for a strong multi-stakeholder approach in Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
He called on civil society organisations, development partners, the private sector and other government institutions to provide technical expertise, guidance and sustained engagement to ensure effective implementation of agreed commitments.
“We need to leverage the OGP platform. We need your expertise, your guidance, your support and your commitment to hand-hold us in delivering on these commitments,” he said.
He further noted that “a multi-stakeholder approach in the digital space is critical to fostering a resilient ecosystem that delivers real value to citizens.”
Inuwa disclosed that NITDA has already begun internal reviews of its OGP commitments and has tasked its representatives, including Dr Rousseau, to work with colleagues to develop a clear execution strategy.
He proposed the creation of joint work streams with OGP stakeholders to support implementation, ensure accountability and keep all parties on track.
“We are humans. Oversight and collaboration help us stay focused. With commitment, nothing is impossible, and I believe these goals are achievable,” he added, assuring the delegation of NITDA’s readiness and political will to deliver on all agreed commitments.
Inuwa also welcomed the idea of engaging the political leadership of OGP, including the Honourable Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, with a view to briefing President Tinubu on the achievement. He noted that celebrating milestones is important, as it reinforces morale and demonstrates that Nigeria’s efforts in digital governance are gaining global recognition.
“It’s also good when there are wins, we should celebrate, because we too never knew that the little things we are doing are noticed not just within Nigeria, but globally, to the extent of earning us this award,” he asserted.
He concluded by expressing gratitude to the Nigerian National OGP Secretariat and the global OGP leadership, reaffirming NITDA’s commitment to strengthening collaboration and building a more productive working relationship that will translate open governance principles into measurable national impact.
Earlier in his remark, Mr Olusoji Apampa, who led the OGP deelegation, said the honours were earned through a strong partnership between government and civil society, with NITDA playing a critical role, particularly in commitments focused on improving digital governance in Nigeria.
Apampa expressed hope that the awards would serve as added momentum to deepen ongoing commitments under NITDA’s leadership and accelerate the practical implementation of reforms aimed at strengthening digital governance across the country.
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