Abigail Marshall Katung

Abigail Marshall Katung
Lord Mayor of Leeds
In office
2024–2025
Preceded byAl Garthwaite
Succeeded byDan Cohen
Leeds City Councillor
for Little London and Woodhouse Ward
Incumbent
Assumed office
2019
Personal details
Born
Abigail Wok Haruna-Musa[1]

(1975-12-07) 7 December 1975
North Central State (now Kaduna State), Nigeria
Political partyLabour Co-op
Alma materUniversity of Leeds

Abigail Wok Marshall Katung (born 7 December 1975) is a Nigerian-British politician and wife of the senator representing the Kaduna South senatorial district, Kaduna State, Nigeria, Sunday Marshall Katung. She was born and raised in Nigeria, but moved to the United Kingdom to study in the University of Leeds and as of January 2024 is a governor at the Leeds City College. In May 2024 she took up the position of Lord Mayor of Leeds,[2] becoming the first elected councillor from Africa to hold the council position,[3] the second black person after Eileen Taylor and the 130th of all.[4]

Career

She is a co-chair of the David Oluwale Memorial Association (DOMA) in memory of David Oluwale,[5] a Nigerian migrant to the UK who arrived Leeds in 1949, but got drowned in River Aire in 1969 with two British police officers held responsible for his death. In November 1971, the prosecution of those police officers made it the first and only time any prosecution for the death of a black person would be successfully carried out against state officials.[6]

In May 2019 at the Leeds City Council elections, Katung was elected as a councillor for the Little London and Woodhouse ward,[7] making her the first African to be elected to the council.[8]

As of 2020, she was a lead member for the BAME and a BAME staff network member champion in Leeds.[9]

In 2022, she co-chaired Leeds City Council's official ‘Food Champion’ alongside the CEO of FareShare Yorkshire, Gareth Batty MBE FRSA.[10] She was also present as a special guest at the Jordan Sinnott Memorial Award at St. Mary's, Meston.[11]

After serving an initial term, she contested again and won the Little London and Woodhouse election in May 2023.[12]

In January 2024, she was elected as the next Lord Mayor of Leeds under the Labour and Co-operative Party, succeeding Al Garthwaite.[2] Her election was for the 2024/2025 term.[13] Katung was the first African to hold the position of Lord Mayor in the city.[3]

Personal life

Katung is married to Nigerian lawyer and lawmaker, Sunday Marshall Katung. As of 2023, the couple have two 19 year-old twin sons whom she chose to bring up in Leeds.[2]

In 2025, Marshall Katung, became involved in a legal dispute over a £1 million mansion in Alwoodley, Leeds. According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), she paid a £400,000 deposit toward the property in 2015 using funds transferred from Nigeria through an informal value transfer system, which she described as a "parallel" or "black" market. The property was later seized by the NCA as part of a £10 million civil recovery agreement with a businessman suspected of money laundering. In 2025, the High Court ruled that Marshall Katung had no legal claim to the property, citing "telling omissions" in her evidence and concluding that she was not a reliable witness. The court also ordered her to pay damages and legal costs. The NCA clarified there was no suggestion that she was aware of any alleged criminal conduct by the previous owner.[14][15]

References

  1. ^ "NIGERIAN COMMUNITY LEEDS". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Coyle, Hayle (18 January 2024). "New Lord Mayor of Leeds takes up role with 'great pride'". BBC News. Leeds. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Alkali, Hamza (18 January 2024). Aliyu, Ibrahim; Bakare, Adeniyi (eds.). "Dabiri-Erewa hails appointment of Abigail as Lord mayor of Leeds". Radio Nigeria. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  4. ^ Connolly, James (19 January 2024). "Abigail Marshall-Katung 'honoured and humbled' to become Leeds' first African Lord Mayor". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  5. ^ Gee, Baba (8 November 2023). "The Hibiscus Rising Gala Dinner: A Night of Remembrance and Optimism". African Voice. Leeds. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  6. ^ Athwal, Harmit (18 October 2010). "The racism that kills". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  7. ^ Akhaine, Saxone (5 May 2019). "Nigerian woman, Katung wins Leeds City Council election". The Guardian Nigeria. Kaduna. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Abigail Marshall Katung becomes 130th Lord Mayor of Leeds". Leeds City Council. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  9. ^ "Latest key messages from the CLT and BAME network steering group". Leeds City Council. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Leeds City Council asks public to feedback on first citywide food strategy". Leeds Star. Leeds. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  11. ^ Lomax, Claire (22 December 2022). "Jordan Sinnott Awards inspire young people home and away". Wharfedale Observer. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  12. ^ Hassan-Wuyo, Ibrahim (6 May 2023). "Nigerian woman, Katung re-elected in UK Council election". Vanguard Nigeria. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  13. ^ Dada, Adekunle (18 January 2024). "Jubilation as Nigerian Woman Elected Lord Mayor of Leeds in United Kingdom". Legit.ng. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  14. ^ Jones, Steve (June 13, 2025). "Ex-lord mayor's home seized after court battle". BBC News. Archived from the original on June 18, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  15. ^ Connolly, James (June 13, 2025). "Ex Leeds Lord Mayor 'dreadfully upset' as £1m luxury house seized by National Crime Agency after High Court ruling". BBC News. Archived from the original on June 18, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
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