By Fatima Babih, EdD
On February 9, 2026, Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Fatima Jabbie Bio, was asked a direct question about her reported multi-million dollar real estate holdings in The Gambia.
AYV host to First Lady:
Now um your excellency there has been a lot of controversies you know which surrounds the issue of you know where you’re coming from as your um um paternal side um which is the Gambia. So it also ties down to the allegations or rumors that circulate around the fact that you and your brother um owns like a lot of luxury apartments in the Gambia. Can you possibly um clarify that claims?”
She could have produced property deeds. She didn’t.
She could have shown acquisition timelines. She didn’t.
She could have referenced financial disclosures. She didn’t.
Instead, she told a story. She dragged in ex-husband(s). Dragged in brothers.
Her First Explanation
A Football Fortune: She claimed she was already wealthy before marrying Julius Maada Bio, because she spent eight years married to a professional footballer who earned a high income abroad.
This was not a modest claim. It was a grandiose explanation that demands grandiose proof.
In this fact-checking exercise, we apply one unforgiving standard: Documentation over declaration.
When the wife of the man occupying the highest office in the land claims to explain millions in property wealth, “Google it” is not an answer. It’s an arrogant evasion.
What Fatima Bio Claimed
When pressed about her Gambian luxury properties, the First Lady deployed her go-to defense, her footballer ex-husband. As she put it:
Before [marrying] his excellency, I was married to a footballer. We were not beggars. I was married to a footballer for eight years… He was playing professional football. We moved from Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia to Besiktas in Turkey and then we moved to Genk in Belgium and then moved to Preston North End in England. All this time I was his wife and a professional footballer that was paid adequately…
Notice the performance? The recitation of club names sounded like she was reading from a Champions League roster. The indignation at the suggestion that they were “beggars.” But when she was asked to simply name her ex-husband, she refused and told viewers to“Google him.”
The host asked, You talk about this ex-husband. Who is it?”
First Lady responded, ..I mean if you Google If you Google him, you should be able to find him. I’m not here to talk about him.
Host to First Lady, He must have a name.
First Lady responded,
I’m not here to find him. I’m not here to talk about him…it will be easy if you go just Google on Al-Hilal and say which Gambian player play in Al-Hilal. You will find him. I’m so and so. Oh, you know go to Google and say which Gambian player play for Genk which Gambian player play for press simple. Why do I have to do your job for you?
In response to Fatima Bio’s challenge to “Google” the footballer whose earnings allegedly established her as a financially independent ex-wife, we did exactly that. We Googled the criteria the First Lady provided and discovered publicly available records of the footballer whose career fits those criteria in that era, Seyfo Soley, including club history, league levels, and estimated salary ranges.
This information provides useful context for assessing whether the First Lady’s explanation reasonably accounts for the scale of assets that are now attributed to her in the Gambia.
Seyfo Soley’s Career Reality
Career Timeline:
- 2000–2005: K.S.C. Lokeren (Belgium) – Mid-tier Belgian club
- 2005–2007: KRC Genk (Belgium) – Respectable Belgian Pro League
- 2007–2009: Preston North End (England) – Championship (2nd tier), not Premier League
- 2009: Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) – Brief stint, not a long-term contract
- 2010–2011: Doxa Katokopia (Cyprus) – Small Cypriot club
- 2011–2012: Alki Larnaca (Cyprus) – Final stint before retirement
International Career: Made approximately 9-10 appearances for the Gambia national team.
Estimated Salary Ranges by Club & Era
(Approximate, early mid 2000s market values)
- Belgian Pro League (Lokeren 2000–2005)
- Mid-table Belgian clubs in the early 2000s typically paid:
- €80,000 – €250,000 per year
- Top earners at bigger Belgian clubs: €300,000–€500,000+
Lokeren was not among Belgium’s financial giants.
Realistic estimate: likely low-to-mid six figures annually (before tax).
- KRC Genk (2005–2007)
Genk is a stronger club financially than Lokeren.
During that period:
- Regular starters: €150,000 – €400,000 per year
- High-profile players: €500,000+
If he were a regular squad member, he likely earned mid-six figures annually.
Still not elite European salary territory.
- England Preston North End (2007–2009)
English Championship salaries were higher than those in Belgium.
Estimated ranges at that time:
- Squad players: £3,000–£8,000 per week
- Regular starters: £8,000–£15,000 per week
Annualized:
- £150,000 – £500,000 per year
Preston was not a Premier League club. He may have earned his highest salary during this period.
- Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal (2009)
Saudi clubs can pay well, but short-term contracts vary widely.
Range during that era:
- $200,000 – $600,000 annually
- Elite foreign players earned more, but that was usually high-profile talent.
Given his short stint, this was likely not a massive, multi-year payday.
Cyprus (2010–2012)
Cypriot First Division salaries are significantly lower:
- €50,000 – €200,000 per year
- Only top stars earned above that.
Late-career contracts tend to be modest.
Was Seyfo Soley “Wealthy”?
Now let’s translate this into reality.
If we assume:
- 10–12 years of professional earnings
- Average annual income somewhere between €150,000–€350,000 at peak
- Lower earnings at the beginning and end of the career
Total gross career earnings might reasonably fall somewhere in the low-to-mid single-digit millions (before taxes, agents, living costs, lifestyle expenses, and investments).
Important:
- Footballers pay agent fees (5–10%).
- High European tax rates (especially Belgium & UK).
- Short career span.
- Injury risk.
- No guaranteed long-term income.
Why This Information Doesn’t Support Her Wealth Claims
- No Major Transfer Fees
Transfer Market, the definitive source for football transfers, shows no significant transfer fees for Soley’s moves. His transfer from Genk to Preston is listed as “undisclosed,” with no large figures reported. When footballers command serious money, those transfers are documented, publicized, and celebrated. Soley’s were not.
- Mid-Tier Clubs Equals Mid-Tier Money
- Belgian Pro League: Respectable but not among Europe’s highest-paying leagues
- Preston North End: English Championship (second division), not the glamorous, money-soaked Premier League
- Cyprus clubs: Modest European backwaters, not elite destinations
- Al-Hilal stint: Brief, not the multi-year Saudi mega-contract that today’s stars command
These are working professional clubs, not wealth-generating powerhouses.
Limited International Profile: With only 9-10 caps for The Gambia, Soley was not a marquee international star whose profile commanded premium wages or lucrative endorsement deals.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Was Seyfo Soley a legitimate professional footballer? Yes.
Did he earn a comfortable living during his playing years? Probably.
Was he wealthy by global football standards? Absolutely not.
Mid-tier European footballers during 2005-2009 earned comfortable six-figure annual salaries. Not millions. Not generational wealth. Comfortable.
Soley’s peak earning years were 2005-2009. His career effectively ended by 2012.
A 2023 Gambian news outlet (Whatson-Gmbia.Com, 2023) published an allegation from a private individual claiming a financial dispute involving Seyfo Soley. The individual allegedly stated, I asked him what happened to all the money he had when he used to play in Europe? His response was “All my accounts are frozen as my ex-wife (Fatima Jabbi Bio), and I are going to court. She (Fatima) is claiming that some of the money in my account is hers.
I have not independently verified those claims, nor do I rely on them as proof of wrongdoing. I reference them to confirm Fatima Bio’s relationship to him and illustrate the broader point: Fatima Bio’s narrative explanations are inconsistent, and there are no documentation to confirm them.
The Gap She Can’t Explain
Even accepting that Soley earned decent money during his playing years, money earned in 2007 does not magically explain property acquisitions in 2019-2025.
That’s not opinion. That’s mathematics.
To bridge that gap, three things must exist:
- Documented earnings during the career window
- Demonstrable investment continuity after the career ended
- Property acquisition dates consistent with that financial trajectory
Fatima Bio has provided exactly zero documentation of any of these.
Another Footballer?
To make sure we are not focusing on the wrong footballer, we Googled another popular Gambian footballer to see if he might be the wealthy ex-husband.
Here’s where Fatima Bio’s carefully constructed story completely unravels. She claimed to have been married to Seyfo Soley for eight years and presented this as THE explanation for her sudden, unexplained wealth. Public records reveal she was previously married to another Gambian footballer, Mohamed (Momodu) Lamin Sanneh, aka “TinTin.” Even though he did not meet the “Google it” criteria the First Lady suggested, because he was once allegedly married to Fatima Bio, we needed to find out if he was a wealthy footballer from whom she may have inherited wealth.
According to AllAfrica.com (August 19, 2002), Sources revealed that Fatima Jabbe, was recently married to Lamin Sanneh alias Tin Tin…”
But was TinTin a wealthy footballer? Another news outlet, WhatsOnGambia.Com (February 17, 2013) stated,
TinTin was, recognized as the most successful [footballer] in the late 1990s. He married and dated some of the most beautiful girls in town. But he soon found himself unable to support his luxurious lifestyle…
So, by the time Fatima Bio allegedly married TinTin in 2002, he was already, allegedly, facing financial struggles. Therefore, he could not be the source of her claimed football wealth.
The Council Flat Contradiction
Here’s what makes Fatima Bio’s football fortune story fall apart completely: Before Julius Maada Bio became president in 2018, the couple and their children were living in subsidized government housing in South London, the kind reserved for low-income families.
If she had accumulated substantial wealth during her marriage to a professional footballer, why was she:
- Living in council housing meant for poor people?
- Receiving government assistance?
- Unable to afford private housing in London?
The OCCRP investigation documented this. The London council confirmed she was still registered as a tenant.
Wealthy ex-wives of footballers don’t live in council flats.
What This Means,
Before Maada Bio Became President:
- The couple lived in council housing (documented)
- There was no evidence of substantial wealth
- They lived a modest lifestyle consistent with limited income
- There were no property holdings documented from the footballer marriage era
After Bio Became President:
- Luxury property acquisitions totaling $2+ million
- Sudden ability to purchase multiple villas and apartments
- Family members also acquiring expensive properties
- Construction projects were suddenly funded and resumed
Are we seriously expected to believe Fatima Bio accumulated millions from these marriages while ending up in subsidized housing? We Googled him. And the records don’t support a word of her wealth explanation. Search engines are not financial disclosures. Club names are not bank statements. And confident storytelling is not proof.
When you are a First Lady and face credible reports of substantial property acquisition, “Google it” is not sufficient. The standard is simple: Documentation or doubt. If you can document the footballer’s fortune, you can produce the property acquisition records. If you can’t document it, accept that Sierra Leoneans have every right to scrutinize the claims you make.
There is no third option where we simply believe the story because you tell it confidently.
Numbers Don’t Negotiate
Fatima Bio deployed confidence and elaborate storytelling to explain her sudden wealth.
But confidence doesn’t create documentation. And stories don’t substitute for evidence.
The numbers are unforgiving:
- Soley’s career: 2000-2012
- Property acquisitions: 2020-2024
- Gap: 8-12 years
You cannot bridge the gap with “Google it.”
On February 9, 2026, Fatima Bio had an opportunity to provide legitimate proof for her footballer wealth claim. She failed to do so. Instead, she told a story that doesn’t match the timeline, can’t explain the council flat years, and provides zero documentation.
We “Googled it”, as she instructed.
The records prove her story is a fairy tale.
The simplest explanation remains the most obvious: Fatima Bio’s wealth appeared when her husband took power, not when she was married to a mid-tier footballer.
This isn’t character assassination. This is chronology.
This isn’t jealousy. This is mathematics.
This isn’t a witch hunt. This is fact-checking.
Numbers don’t negotiate. And “Google it” is not documentation or proof.
In the words of Bob Marley,
You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time!
References
Watch this space for Part 2 of Fatima Bio’s second explanation of her sudden wealth.
TransferMarkt Seyfo Soley Player Data
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