Fresh documents released by the the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Illinois has indicted Bola Tinubu, the
presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress for drug trafficking
and money laundering, Peoples Gazette has reported.
The former Lagos governor, has since declaring his intention to
become President come under intense public ridicule and political
onslaught for his role in an early 1990s drug trafficking case in
Chicago.
Mr Tinubu has not commented on the narcotics affair, which has made
headlines since at least the mid-aughts, preferring instead to discuss
other parts of his background in corporate accounting, consultancy and
pro-democracy activism. He, however, informed the electoral office INEC
in his application to stand for the election that he had no prior
criminal convictions.
Mr Tinubu’s allies have also made efforts to downplay the matter
entirely as a trivial distraction to Nigeria’s democratic experience
because it happened decades ago in a distant lang.
But Nigerians have insisted that the presidential candidate should
come clean on his involvement in the case, which saw him forfeit up to
$460,000 to the U.S. authorities in 1993.
The 56-page document released by the district court’s headquarters
in Chicago did not include crucial new details, but it further confirmed
snippets of the matter that had been shared spontaneously by the media
for years. Journalist David Hundeyin also reignited interest in Mr
Tinubu’s drug-dealing background following a July 13 article in West
Africa Weekly.
The latest certified copies of the court case, obtained on August
10, showed Mr Tinubu and two others named K.O. Tinubu and Alhaji Mogati
were involved in banking proceeds of illicit drugs and money laundering
with Heritage Bank and Citibank. It was not immediately clear whether or
not ‘Alhaji Mogati’ was a misspelling of Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, Mr
Tinubu’s foster mother, who passed on in 2013.
The U.S. government had in July 1993 sought forfeiture of proceeds
of narcotics Mr Tinubu was accused of laundering. The matter was
resolved in a compromise between the Tinubus and the U.S. authorities,
with the Tinubus being asked to keep the money in the Heritage Bank
account while the $460,000 in the Citibank account was forfeited.
A federal judge subsequently dismissed the matter with prejudice on
September 21, 1993, which effectively foreclosed the matter from being
litigated again by all parties. It, however, remained unclear whether or
not Nigerian authorities could still bring charges against Mr Tinubu
over the same case in Nigerian courts.
Kalu Kalu Agu, an Abuja-based lawyer with ties to opposition
politics, has been among those seeking to hold Mr Tinubu to account over
the matter. He petitioned the EFCC and NDLEA, Nigerian anti-graft and
anti-narcotics departments, respectively, to probe Mr Tinubu’s
involvement in the drug charges before the presidential elections in
February.
In the November 8 petition, Mr Kalu Agu gave both offices seven
days to launch action against Mr Tinubu or be compelled through a
judicial order of mandamus, a process that involves ordering a public
department to perform a public duty.
“It is our view that you have a historic duty to ensure that
Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu is called to account for his deeds in money
laundering arising from his involvement in narcotics trafficking,” Mr Kalu Agu said from his think-tank Centre for Reform & Public Accountability in Abuja.
Mr Tinubu, who has been on a campaign tour through the country, did
not return a request seeking comments about the released court
documents and Mr Kalu Agu’s petition to federal authorities. A spokesman
for his campaign also declined comments.
Watch the full investigative video of His Involved drug trafficking activities:
Watch the Arise Tv Video discussion:
Read Full Court Document Here.
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