Is George Soros eyeing Nigeria’s presidential election?

George Soros is perhaps one of the most controversial figures active on the political scene. Through the cover of his Open Society Foundation, the Hungarian-born billionaire has pushed for regime change – with considerable success - in many Eastern European and Central Asian countries. Is Nigeria the next country to feel the brunt of Soros' self-serving democratic ideals?

Having made his considerable fortune (some $27 billion according to Forbes) through his titular investment management firm, Soros set his eyes in the mid 80s on dabbling into the internal affairs of then-communist countries. Coating his anti-Marxist agenda with a thin veneer of philanthropy, Soros poured millions in dissidents that advanced what he calls the ideals of “open societies”, a term inspired by Karl Popper's political thought. Czechoslovakia's Charter 77, Poland's Solidarity movement or Russia's Andrei Sakharov were all recipients of his largesse.

During the 90s and the 00s, the billionaire's tactics changed as Soros' strategic investments and grants started resembling a personal foreign policy of global proportions and reach. The Open Society Institutes (OSI), considered by a recent report as the least transparent think tanks in the world, spend some $500 million yearly, allegedly to promote “democratization” and rule of law mechanisms.

In reality, OSI helped topple Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic, courtesy of a $100 million donation to the coffers of the opposition, fueled the Orange Revolution and the Euromaidan in Ukraine and has provided financial aid to opposition parties in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, and Macedonia. After Georgia's “Rose Revolution”, a number of Soros employees were even rewarded with governmental jobs. Alexander Lomaia, the head of OSI Georgia became the country's Minister of Education and later Secretary of Georgia's Security Council.

Famously, Soros donated $100 million to Human Rights Watch and millions more to Transparency International, two major Western NGOs renowned for their annual reports and also for their lack of transparency and internal democratic mechanisms. Moreover, Soros is also linked to the dubious International Crisis Group (ICG), a self-described NGO that strives for the peaceful resolution of conflicts. The billionaire is one of its major donors and holds a seat on the board of trustees, a presence that has been felt in many of the group's reports.

Soros' interests have not been confined to Europe. In Zimbabwe, the director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, Godfrey Kanyenze, was instrumental in the founding of the Movement for Democratic Change, the main opposition party who ascended to power between 2009 and 2013. In Tunisia, OSI financed Radio Kalima, a dissident voice that played a major role in starting the riots that led to the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, while in Egypt, OSI endorsed the Muslim Brotherhood and ICG board member Mohamed ElBaradei after the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

Conservative media darling Glenn Beck described Soros' strategy for regime change as a five step plan: (1) form a shadow government using humanitarian aid as cover, (2) control the airwaves, (3) destabilize the state and build anti-government feeling in the country, (4) provoke an election crisis, (5) take power after staging massive public demonstrations.

And now it seems that Soros has set his eyes on Nigeria's presidential election, slated for March 28. The billionaire has substantial economic interests in Africa's largest country, directed through the Helios Investment Partners hedge fund. In recent years, the fund has invested billions in all sectors of Nigeria's economy, ranging from shopping malls to pension funds, oil and gas joint ventures and mobile phone infrastructure.

Most interestingly though has been the career of Oby Ezekwelisi, former Minister of Mineral Resources, Minister of Education and one of the founders of the Soros-financed Transparency International, who was named in 2012 the executive director of OSI affiliated Africa Economic Policy Development Initiative. Thanks to her international profile and affiliation with OSI, Ezekwelisi emerged as a main figure in the All Progressive Congress (APC) and was even considered for the vice presidential nominee slot on the ticket of presidential hopeful, general Muhammadu Buhari. Her main backer has been former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a fierce critic of Jonathan Goodluck and staunch supporter of Buhari.

Let's not forget that Buhari, a former military ruler and Sharia practitioner who rose to and was deposed from power in a coup d'état in the 1980s, has mounted an aggressive media campaign that sought to whitewash the multiple abuses perpetuated by his oppressive regime. To this end, he received the backing of multiple international experts from Soros' clique, including the International Crisis Group and the OSI who considerably swayed the Western media coverage of the March elections.

For example, in an editorial published in the Guardian (UK) by the Africa director of the ICG, Buhari is simply described as “a former head of state”, while Jonathan is blasted for Nigeria's security problems at the hands of Boko Haram. After the elections were postponed earlier this month because of the worsening security situation and Boko Haram's promises to do whatever it can to stop the poll from happening, the ICG launched another attack at Jonathan, arguing that this is just a ploy for the sitting president meant to drum up his support in the face of a resurgent Buhari.

There is a wider pattern at play here: from Ezekwelisi and the ICG's involvement in Nigeria, to the postponement of elections, the political landscape in the country looks like a page straight from Soros' playbook, as outlined back in 2010 by Glenn Beck. It seems ironic that Soros, the staunch “freedom fighter” has now joined hands with a former military dictator without any democratic credentials who oversaw one of Nigeria's most repressive regimes.

Are these really the ideals of an open society?