EXCLUSIVE Reform UK council candidate helps Nigerians get UK study visas - while Nigel Farage demands crackdown and blasts UK universities for being 'drunk on foreign money'
A Reform UK candidate runs a company that helps Nigerians get UK study visas - despite party leader Nigel Farage wanting to 'slash' foreign student numbers.
Christopher Adegoke is standing as Reform's candidate for the Hucknall West ward on Nottinghamshire County Council at next month's local elections.
He is a director at Nigerian-based firm KOT Educational Services & Tours Ltd - a 'placement agency' for international students with a branch office in Nottingham.
The firm's website states it offers 'visa counselling and support services' for students to ensure 'the requisite visas are granted'.
Mr Adegoke is listed on the British Council database of UK-certified counsellors, who help market UK universities abroad and support foreign students coming to Britain.
His role has come under scrutiny ahead of the 1 May local elections, with Mr Farage having voiced concerns about the number of foreign students in the UK.
The Reform leader has accused British universities of being 'absolutely drunk on foreign money'.
It can also be revealed how Mr Adegoke once backed calls for talks on slavery reparations for African countries.
This is despite senior Reform figures having rejected such demands as 'ridiculous' and 'nonsense'.
Ahead of the local elections on 1 May, Reform has been stung by a series of revelations about their councillor candidates.
This has led to fresh questions about the party's vetting of election hopefuls.
A Tory source told MailOnline: 'Nigel Farage personally promised that Reform UK vetting was to a standard never done before.
'So either this was another lie or Reform have developed some new soft-touch migration policies they don't want the country to know about.
'Only a vote for the Conservatives on 1 May will deliver better services and lower taxes.'
Mr Farage last year decried the 'staggering' number of sponsored study visas granted in the UK and demanded ministers 'slash' the total.
He said many UK universities had 'become absolutely drunk on foreign money', with institutions able to charge overseas students higher fees than British students.
'I wonder whether this is all to the benefit of British students going on to further education,' he said on his GB News show.
'So I think we should slash the numbers. Also, we should be careful about who we allow in, and just coming as a student should not give you automatic leave to remain.'
There has also been scrutiny of Mr Adegoke's past activity on social media, as well as his business interests.
In 2022, he shared posts on X/Twitter by Nana Akufo-Addo, the then-president of Ghana, demanding 'long overdue' talks on slavery reparations for African nations.
Mr Farage last year warned Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer not to 'give an inch' on slavery reparations at a Commonwealth summit.
Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice also dismissed calls for slavery reparations as 'ridiculous' and 'nonsense'.
In 2022, Mr Adegoke shared posts on X/Twitter by Nana Akufo-Addo, the then-president of Ghana, demanding 'long overdue' talks on slavery reparations for African nations
Mr Adegoke posed for a picture with Mr Farage while the Reform leader was campaigning in Sutton-in-Ashfield earlier this month.
In a video posted on his Facebook page, Mr Adegoke has explained why he is hoping to become a Reform councillor in Nottinghamshire, where he has lived since 2010.
'I grew up in Africa where I co-founded a children's initative that later evolved into a education placement agency since 1998,' he said.
'We have placed legitimate international students into UK universities and colleges.
'These students have contributed £10million in tuition fees and £3.5million in living costs to the UK economy.'
He added: 'It is this legitimate business that brought me to the UK in 2010 as a business migrant.
'And I continue this work until today - supporting UK education institutions and contributing to the economy.'
Mr Adegoke admitted some people had asked him why he supported Reform UK, amid accusations they are an 'anti-immigration or even racist' party.
'Let me be clear, Reform UK is not against legal migration - what it firmly opposes is illegal migration,' he said.
Mr Adegoke added he had 'proudly passed a rigorous selection process' to be chosen as a Reform candidate.
A Reform UK spokesman said: 'The Tories are the architects of the failed mass immigration experiment. They opened the borders and allowed millions in.
'The public know that only Reform UK can be trusted to freeze immigration and stop the boats.'
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