Cubana Group Rejects  Link to Ex Liberia VP Allegations

The attention of the Cubana Group has been drawn to a recent media report revisiting a 2021 trade and investment visit to Liberia by a delegation of Nigerian business leaders, including the Chairman of Cubana Group, Chief (Dr.) Obinna Iyiegbu (Obi Cubana), and attempting, through its timing and presentation, to associate that legitimate business engagement with recent allegations involving former Liberian Vice-President Jewel Howard-Taylor.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Cubana Group wishes to state categorically that the 2021 visit to Liberia was a legitimate and openly conducted trade and investment mission, focused on exploring business opportunities, strengthening trade relations and discussing possible investments in sectors including tourism, hospitality, real estate, agriculture, youth development and other areas of economic cooperation.

Indeed, the report itself acknowledges that the Nigerian delegation visited Monrovia in October 2021 as part of a trade mission exploring investment opportunities in Liberia. It further acknowledges that contemporary reports described the visit as a broader Nigerian trade mission and that meetings were arranged with members of Liberia’s business community to discuss possible investments.

It is therefore misleading and unfair to retrospectively place an entirely legitimate business engagement under a cloud of suspicion simply because an individual who held public office and received the delegation has, approximately five years later, become the subject of allegations entirely unrelated to that visit.

*A NORMAL BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT ENGAGEMENT*

As a diversified African business organisation with interests spanning hospitality, entertainment, real estate, tourism, lifestyle, entrepreneurship and youth development, the Cubana Group and its Chairman routinely engage government officials, investors, business leaders, development partners and private-sector stakeholders across Nigeria, Africa and other international markets.

Such engagements are an ordinary and necessary part of doing business across borders.

At the time of the 2021 visit, Jewel Howard-Taylor was the duly serving Vice-President of the Republic of Liberia. Meeting a sitting Vice-President during an official trade and investment visit was neither unusual nor clandestine.

The meeting was not hidden. Photographs from the engagement were publicly circulated, the purpose of the visit was publicly discussed, and the business and investment objectives of the delegation were reported in the media.

Significantly, the recent report itself recalls Howard-Taylor’s subsequent explanation that Chief Obinna Iyiegbu had travelled to Liberia as part of a trade mission seeking business opportunities, particularly within the tourism sector. She described her role as showcasing Liberia’s investment opportunities and facilitating legitimate partnerships that could contribute to the country’s economy.

This contemporaneous and subsequent public record speaks clearly to the purpose and nature of the visit.

*BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT CANNOT BE RETROSPECTIVELY CRIMINALISED BY ASSOCIATION*

The Cubana Group considers it important to distinguish between legitimate institutional engagement with a public officeholder and allegations subsequently made against that individual years after such engagement.

Chief (Dr.) Obinna Iyiegbu and the Cubana Group cannot reasonably be expected to have anticipated in 2021 allegations that would arise against a former public official in 2026.

More importantly, nothing in the media report establishes any connection whatsoever between the Cubana Group, its Chairman, the 2021 trade mission and the allegations currently involving the former Liberian Vice-President.

The fact that two individuals met in the course of legitimate business or official engagements cannot, by itself, constitute evidence of involvement in each other’s subsequent activities.

Attempting to create such an impression through photographs of a publicly acknowledged business meeting risks replacing facts with insinuation and guilt by association.

*CUBANA GROUP’S INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ENGAGEMENTS ARE NOT SECRET*

The Liberia engagement was neither the first nor the last international business and investment mission undertaken by Chief (Dr.) Obinna Iyiegbu and his associates.

Over the years, the Chairman has participated in business meetings, investment missions and economic engagements involving political leaders, government representatives, private-sector executives and investors in several countries.

He has similarly engaged leaders and stakeholders in other African countries, including the Republic of Benin, as part of efforts to identify opportunities, strengthen cross-border business relationships and promote African enterprise.

More recently, the Chairman returned from business and trade engagements in Canada and the United Kingdom, where he participated in business-related meetings and continued discussions with government representatives, investors and private-sector leaders across sectors relevant to the Cubana Group’s interests.

These engagements reflect a consistent philosophy: African businesses must build relationships across borders, seek investment opportunities, attract capital and partnerships into Nigeria, and explore responsible expansion into other markets.

There has never been any attempt to conceal these engagements because there is nothing improper about them.

*THE PUBLIC RECORD SHOULD SPEAK FOR ITSELF*

We therefore urge media organisations and members of the public to evaluate the 2021 Liberia visit on the basis of the facts available at the time rather than through the prism of allegations arising five years later.

The SaharaReporters publication of August 23, 2026 itself acknowledges that:

– the October 2021 visit was a trade mission;
– the delegation explored investment opportunities in real estate, tourism and other sectors;
– contemporary reports described it as a broader Nigerian trade mission involving sectors such as energy, education, youth development and real estate;
– meetings were held with members of Liberia’s business community to discuss investment opportunities; and
– Howard-Taylor subsequently publicly described Chief Obinna Iyiegbu as part of a delegation seeking business opportunities in Liberia.

These facts are entirely consistent with the Cubana Group’s position and leave no reasonable basis for insinuating that the visit had any connection with allegations made against the former Vice-President several years later.

*OUR POSITION*

The Cubana Group respects the responsibility of the media to report matters of legitimate public interest. That responsibility, however, should equally demand fairness, context and a clear distinction between established facts and speculative association.

We therefore reject any attempt, whether explicit or implied, to associate Chief (Dr.) Obinna Iyiegbu, the Cubana Group or the 2021 Nigerian trade delegation with the allegations currently involving former Vice-President Jewel Howard-Taylor merely because members of the delegation met her while she occupied one of the highest public offices in Liberia.

If competent authorities establish wrongdoing against any individual, such matters should be determined on the basis of evidence and due process. They should not become a basis for casting suspicion on businesspeople, investors, diplomats or other persons who legitimately interacted with that individual in an official capacity years earlier.

The Cubana Group remains committed to legitimate enterprise, responsible investment, job creation, youth development and the expansion of African businesses across international markets.

Our Chairman will continue to engage governments, investors, business leaders and institutions wherever legitimate opportunities exist to promote investment, expand enterprise, create jobs and advance African economic development.