UK company register has listed BOOT Party candidate Sunday Adenuga as British since 2017, after earlier filings said Nigerian

The United Kingdom's public company register, Companies House, lists Sunday Oluwafemi Stephen Adenuga, born in June 1974, as the sole director of Prized Consulting Limited, company number 06620501, from 16 June 2008. When Vero Record read the officer page on 1 October 2026, it gave his nationality as "British" and his place of residence as "England", and said his identity verification requirements were complete. The same register lists him as a director of FSA Property Ltd, company number 10816223, from 13 June 2017, again as British and resident in England. He is also recorded as a person with significant control of both companies: he holds 75% or more of Prized Consulting, and more than 50% but less than 75% of FSA Property. Both companies have their registered office in Erith, in south-east London.

The register has not always said British. The incorporation papers for Prized Consulting, filed on 16 June 2008, name "MR SUNDAY OLUWAFEMI STEPHEN ADENUGA" as director one, with "Nationality: NIGERIA" and "Business occupation: IT AUDITOR". The company's annual return made up to 16 June 2016 again gives "Nationality: NIGERIAN", with "Country/State Usually Resident: UNITED KINGDOM". Vero Record downloaded both documents from Companies House and read them.

The next document to state his nationality is the application to register FSA Property Ltd, which Companies House received on 12 June 2017. There, "MR SUNDAY OLUWAFEMI ADENUGA", born in June 1974 and usually resident in England, is recorded as "Nationality: BRITISH". Three weeks later, a notice received on 4 July 2017 named him as a person with significant control of Prized Consulting, also with "Nationality: BRITISH". Every filing and register entry since then says the same. Prized Consulting's filing history contains two change-of-details forms for its director before 2017: one received on 5 July 2009, which records a new address in Essex, and one received on 19 May 2010, which records his country of residence as the United Kingdom. Neither changes his nationality. On the documents, then, the nationality stated for Adenuga changed from Nigerian to British at some point between June 2016 and June 2017. That dating is Vero Record's reading of the filing sequence, graded C. The filings do not say when or how he came to hold British nationality, and they do not show that it happened in that window rather than being reported late.

Vero Record is satisfied that the director and the candidate are the same man, and this is how the records fit together. INEC's signed final list for the January 2027 presidential election, which we downloaded from inecnigeria.org, shows "ADENUGA SUNDAY" of the Boot Party (BP) at entry 8, aged 52. Someone born in June 1974 would be 52 in January 2027. INEC's final list for the 2023 election gives "ADENUGA SUNDAY OLUWAFEMI", BP, aged 48. His 2023 campaign website, adenuga.org, presents him as "Sunday Adenuga, MSc, CISA, CRISC, PMP". CISA is a qualification for IT auditors, which is the occupation his first UK filing gives. The same site names his wife as Jane Adenuga, and a Jane Adenuga is the other director of FSA Property. Prized Consulting's own website lists CISA, CRISC and PMP among its team's certifications. It says the company serves clients "in Nigeria and the United Kingdom" and builds software for Nigerian markets. In December 2022 Daily Trust quoted him as saying, "I used to live in Lagos up till 2007." His first UK company filing is dated June 2008.

The constitution is direct on this point. Section 131 lists the qualifications for the presidency: citizenship of Nigeria by birth, an age of at least 35, membership of a sponsoring party, and education to at least School Certificate level. Section 137(1)(a) then provides that a person "shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if - (a) subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National Assembly, he has made a declaration of allegiance to such other country". Vero Record read the text in the updated constitution published by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre and in the Federal Ministry of Justice copy. The wording of section 137(1)(a) is the same in both.

INEC puts the same question to every candidate on oath. Form EC9 is the affidavit in support of a candidate's personal particulars, and Vero Record downloaded it from the commission's website on 1 October 2026. Part B asks at question 9 for the candidate's nationality. Question 10 asks, "Have you voluntarily in the past changed Nationality?" and, if so, "what was your former Nationality?". Question 11 asks, "Have you voluntarily acquired citizenship of any other country?" and, if so, "which country?". Question 12 asks, "Have you made a declaration of allegiance to that or any other country?" Each has a YES box and a NO box, and the form adds: "(Attach evidence)". Section 29(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, as gazetted on 2 March 2026, requires each candidate's information to come with an affidavit sworn in court "indicating that he or she has fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into that office."

What section 137 means for someone who is a Nigerian citizen by birth is disputed. Section 28(1) says a person "shall forfeit forthwith his Nigerian citizenship if, not being a citizen of Nigeria by birth, he acquires or retains the citizenship or nationality of a country, other than Nigeria, of which he is not a citizen by birth." One reading holds that because section 137(1)(a) is "subject to" section 28, and section 28 protects citizens by birth from losing their Nigerian citizenship, a citizen by birth who takes a second nationality is not barred. Babatunde Fashola, a Senior Advocate, took that general view in April 2023, when questions were raised about President Bola Tinubu and a Guinean passport. He told Channels Television, "I doubt that the Nigerian constitution makes you disentitled if you have dual citizenship because the constitution allows you to have dual citizenship" (graded B). The other reading holds that section 28 deals with forfeiting citizenship, while section 137 deals with qualifying for one office, and that the words "voluntarily acquired" still apply. Vero Record has not found and read an appellate judgment that settles the question for a presidential candidate. When a Federal High Court suit raised the Tinubu passport in 2023, Justice James Omotosho dismissed it in May 2023 because the plaintiffs lacked standing, as reported at the time, so the merits were never decided.

The second limb of section 137(1)(a), the declaration of allegiance, may matter as much as the first. Under section 42 of the United Kingdom's British Nationality Act 1981, which Vero Record read on legislation.gov.uk, "A person of full age shall not be registered under this Act as a British citizen unless he has made the relevant citizenship oath and pledge specified in Schedule 5 at a citizenship ceremony", and the same condition applies to certificates of naturalisation. The oath in Schedule 5 reads: "I, [name], swear by Almighty God that, on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors according to law." People who affirm instead of swearing make a matching affirmation. Adenuga was 42 in June 2016. If he became British by naturalisation or registration as an adult, UK law required him to swear or affirm allegiance at a ceremony. That is Vero Record's inference, graded C, because the register does not show which route, if any, applied to him.

There is a document that would settle what he told INEC, but it is not public. Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2026 requires the commission to publish each candidate's personal particulars within 21 days of receiving them, in the constituency where the candidate is standing. Vero Record found no published copy of Adenuga's Form EC9 for 2023 or 2027 on INEC's website, and none in the capture index of the Internet Archive that we searched for the commission's 2022 uploads. Section 29(4) lets anyone apply for a certified true copy "upon payment of a prescribed fee". Vero Record does not buy records and did not apply. We therefore do not know how Adenuga answered questions 9 to 12, or what evidence, if any, he attached.

The law limits who can take the question to court before an election. Section 29(5) of the 2026 Act allows a suit claiming that a candidate's affidavit is false only by "An aspirant who participated in the primaries of his political party". Under section 29(6), if a court finds that information about eligibility is false, it must disqualify both the candidate and the party. According to press reports, Adenuga, who is also the party's national chairman, was nominated unopposed at the BOOT Party primary on 29 May 2026 (graded B). If that is right, no rival aspirant exists to bring such a suit. After an election, section 138(1) of the 2026 Act lists two grounds for a petition: corrupt practices or non-compliance, and not being duly elected by a majority of lawful votes. Section 134(1)(a) of the Electoral Act 2022, which we also read, listed a third ground: that the winner "was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the election". That ground does not appear in section 138(1) as gazetted.

The party's founding document presents its leaders as people who came home. The foreword to the BOOT Party constitution, which was published on INEC's website and is held in the Vero Record archive (the file's metadata dates it to October 2019), says: "we have left everything behind to work for our country and redeem the NIGERIAN DREAMS", and that its founders "decided to leave all that are dear to them behind to work for our nation". The UK register still describes the party's candidate as resident in England. On 20 March 2026 he approved the latest accounts of FSA Property as a director, and both companies filed confirmation statements with Companies House in July 2026, two months after his nomination. Living abroad is lawful, and residence in Nigeria is not among the qualifications in section 131. The point here is the gap between how the party describes its founders and what the UK register records.

The accounts show companies that are active and small. FSA Property's micro-entity balance sheet at 30 June 2025 shows fixed assets of £908,637, current assets of £14,871, creditors due within a year of £30,058, and creditors due after more than a year of £900,984. That leaves net liabilities of £7,534, and the figures add up. The company describes its business as buying, selling and letting its own real estate, and it registered four charges with Companies House in 2018. At the same date Prized Consulting shows fixed assets of £1,200, current assets of £480, short-term creditors of £2,320 and long-term creditors of £8,463, for net liabilities of £9,103. Nothing in either set of accounts suggests wrongdoing. They are cited only to show that the UK businesses are still running in the year he is seeking the presidency.

None of this shows that Adenuga is disqualified, that his affidavit is false, or that he has done anything unlawful. The register records what a company and its officers deliver to it. Vero Record has not seen a British passport or naturalisation certificate in his name, and we do not know where he was born, how or when he came to hold British nationality, or whether he has since given it up. We also do not know what he declared on Form EC9. If he is British by descent from birth, the words "voluntarily acquired" may not apply at all, although his filings from 2008 and 2016, which say Nigerian, would then need explaining. A court could also adopt the reading of section 28 that exempts citizens by birth.

The same test applies to every candidate. In 2023 a foreign passport attributed to the man who became president raised the same constitutional question, and no court ruled on it. For Adenuga, three documents would settle the matter: his Form EC9 affidavits for 2023 and 2027 with any evidence attached, a statement of how and when he acquired British nationality, and, if he has renounced it, the renunciation. The BOOT Party and Adenuga can publish all three. Vero Record did not put these questions to him before publication. Any answer he or the party sends to info@verorecord.com will be published in full, with any documents supplied.

What this rests on

Companies House live officer and PSC pages for Prized Consulting Ltd (06620501) and FSA Property Ltd (10816223), re-read 1 October 2026; the original filings of 2008 (incorporation), 2009 (288c), 2010 (CH01), 2016 (AR01), June 2017 (FSA IN01) and July 2017 (PSC01), and the 2025 micro-entity accounts, all downloaded from Companies House and read; INEC's signed 2027 presidential final list, its 2023 national final list and the blank Form EC9, all downloaded from inecnigeria.org; the Electoral Act 2026 (NASS download, identical hash to INEC copy) and Electoral Act 2022; the constitution (PLAC updated text and Ministry of Justice copy); the British Nationality Act 1981 s.42 and Schedule 5 on legislation.gov.uk; the BOOT Party constitution as published by INEC (archive copy). Identity link and the 2016-2017 dating are Vero Record inference (C); Fashola quote, the 2023 FHC standing ruling and the unopposed primary rest on press (B).

What this does not establish

Whether Adenuga actually holds British citizenship now (the register is self-reported), how and when he acquired it (naturalisation, registration or descent), whether he swore a UK oath of allegiance, his place of birth, whether he has renounced either nationality, and what he declared on Form EC9 in 2023 or 2027. Whether section 137(1)(a) disqualifies a Nigerian citizen by birth who acquires another citizenship has not been settled by any judgment Vero Record has read. Nothing establishes that his affidavit is false or that he is disqualified.