In 2009, Pfizer settled with the Nigerian government after at least 11 children died and others suffered severe harm during an illegal trial of the experimental drug Trovan, administered without proper consent during a meningitis outbreak in Kano State.
The illegal trial conducted in 1996 has been widely condemned as one of the most egregious examples of unethical medical experimentation in Africa.
Investigative journalist David Hundeyin recently revealed that the settlement, originally set at $6 billion, was drastically reduced to just $75 million, a 98.75% reduction, reportedly under pressure from the Obama administration.
At the center of this controversial settlement was Yemi Osinbajo, who at the time acted as a legal representative for the Nigerian government. Osinbajo oversaw the negotiations that led to the significant reduction in Pfizer’s financial liability.
In 2015, Osinbajo was installed as Nigeria’s vice president under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Hundeyin’s report connects his political rise to the Obama administration, which is alleged to have supported a regime change operation in Nigeria during that period.
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The statement reads, “I could also mention that after killing at least 11 Nigerian children with an illegal human trial of the experimental drug Trovan, Pfizer had its legal settlement reduced from $6bn to $75m in 2009 due in no small part to pressure from the Obama administration.”
Hundeyin added, “The lawyer representing the Nigerian government who oversaw that 98.75% reduction was coincidentally installed as vice president in 2015 when the same Obama administration ran a successful regime change operation in Nigeria. But now that I’ve mentioned it, what difference has it made? Who cares? It doesn’t matter.
“Nobody takes Nigeria less seriously than Nigerians themselves. People wey no sabi wetin dey do them. Wo, let me go back to minding my non-Nigerian business. I kuku promised Nuhu Ribadu that I will not disturb them anymore.”
