The People Democratic Party (PDP) has restated why the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must beam their searchlight on the presidential candidate of the All-Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, alleging that the former Lagos State governor has direct ties to drug lords and was used as a conduit pipe to launder their funds.
The party also called for his arrest and prosecution, but the APC in a swift reaction said instead of the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, to apologise to Nigerians for abusing his office and position of trust as vice-president in the past, his spokesmen have continued to dig deeper in the hole they already found themselves.
However, in a statement signed by some members of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) led by its Director, Strategic Communication, Dele Momodu, the party expressed fear that the nation is at a crossroads, battling banditry, terrorism in many towns in the north, militants attacking oil facilities and bringing the country’s economy to its knees in the Niger Delta with secessionists holding the southeast to ransom for survival, adding state-sponsored drug trafficking into the mix would be a huge disaster.
Others, who signed the petition are the Media Adviser to the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe; spokesperson, PCC, Daniel Bwala; Special Assistant, Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu, and spokesperson PCC, Charles Aniagwu.
According to them, court records showed that an alleged Nigerian drug kingpin, Adegboyega Muiz Akande, ran an elaborate network of heroin traffickers in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1980s and that Tinubu worked for him.
They wrote: “This investigation has revealed the identity of other individuals including relatives who have worked for Akande with various duties in the distribution organization. One of these individuals has been identified by the investigation as Bola Tinubu,” said Kevin Moss, a special agent with the Inland Revenue Service.
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They went further that court records showed that the said Akande took Tinubu to First Heritage Bank where he opened an account for himself and his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, in 1989. “Tinubu revealed in documents that he worked with Mobil Nigeria Limited, and his salary was $2,400 and he had no other sources of income whatsoever,” they said.
They continued, “But records from his First Heritage Bank account showed that in 1990, Tinubu deposited $661,000 into his money market account and in 1991 deposited $1,216,500 into the same money market account.
“Mobil representatives told US authorities that even though Tinubu was a treasurer, he had no direct access to the company’s cash and thus could not deposit funds on behalf of the firm.”
They said Tinubu quickly entered into an agreement with US authorities and forfeited $460,000 to avoid jail before running back to Nigeria.
“But this has not changed the fact that he was in cahoots with drug dealers and was their bagman,” they wrote.
To them, Nigerian law is clear, adding that criminal cases are not statute bar.
“Criminal cases have no statute of limitation and can be re-opened at any time, especially for the sake of national interest. We hereby call on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to immediately arrest Bola Ahmed Tinubu and prosecute him for drug trafficking.”
The statement was the council’s reaction to the latest call by the PDP on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the EFCC to investigate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate, over drug trafficking.
The PDP had also alleged that Tinubu, a former two-term Lagos State governor, was involved in the illegal drug-related business as recently as 2015.
“It is obvious that the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, are yet to recover from the bombshell the APC PCC released last week,” Onanuga said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the APC PCC, at a recent news conference, questioned the morality of Atiku Abubakar to remain in the presidential race, following his alleged damaging self-confession in a leaked audio clip.
The APC at the news conference called on security agencies to arrest, investigate and prosecute Abubakar, a former Vice-President, for running Special Purpose Vehicles used to divert public funds.
“Since the scandal broke out, along with legal action to compel anti-graft agencies to perform their role, Atiku and his party, PDP, have laboured in vain to deflect and cover up with their series of ad hominem arguments.
“Instead of Atiku to apologise to Nigerians for abusing his office and position of trust as vice-president in the past, his spokesmen continue to dig deeper in the hole they already found themselves,” Onanuga said.
He said Atiku and his party were doing this by raising many false allegations against Tinubu.
He added that the latest chapter in Atiku and PDP’s comedy was the rehash of old tales and fables that had no basis in facts and reality against Tinubu.
“Our stand remains that Atiku Abubakar lacks the character to be the president of Nigeria.
“He is unfit to lead our country because he can be an easy target for compromises that will be against national interest,” Onanuga stressed.
According to him, Atiku, in deeds and words, has shown that he cannot be trusted to manage the resources of the country.
“And we believe that the characters who still parade themselves as his spokespersons have lost their minds.
“This is why they think Nigerians can be swayed by all their deliberate falsehoods and the lies they manufacture every day against Tinubu to deceive the public.
“They should instead be remorseful for the legendary corruption of their boss,” he said
