Political Issues
Tinubu And His Many Scandals -By Gozie Irogboli
In the light of the emerging scenario, it is important that the Federal Ministry of Justice, the NDLEA, the INEC and all other relevant agencies intervene and give the right eclaircisseent on the matter in order not to set a false precedence. I am not a legal cognoscente but I know that criminal forfeiture can only come when the culprit must have found guilty.
Leadership especially in the political spheres involves superintending over the affairs of people: making decisions, engineering policies and programs that affect peoples’ lives and future and as such the people are always interested in the character and conducts of those they wish to entrust their affairs into their hands. Trust is the key word. For the people to elect you to oversee their affairs, it is expected that they must trust your integrity and your capability to deliver on your mandate. And as consequently, the lives and times of political leaders are always in public scrutiny. Thus, aspiring public officers with shadowy or ignoble past are always jittery, apprehensive, defensive and aggressive when matters concerning their ignoble past become public knowledge.
As the 2023 general election draws nigh, one man whose life and past have elicited much controversy about his capability, credibility or eligibility to contest for the office of the president of Nigeria in the forthcoming election in 2023 is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jagaban of Borgu and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Since his controversial emergence as his party’s presidential flag bearer through a dubious process marred by vote buying scandal, controversies have continued to trail him. And the Jagaban is no stranger to scandal; everything around him reeks of scandal. Because of the enormous wealth he controls in Lagos and the influence he wields the Jagaban is seen as the godfather, the Svengali of the current Nigerian politics but all that seems to be crumbling the face of the recent scandals that dog every step he takes since his emergence as the APC standard bearer. And for Tinubu it has been one-week-one-trouble.
Interestingly, despite the media fireworks and the attempts to suppress the numerous scandals by his team of media shields and spin doctors as heretofore, the dissenting voices appear irrepressible. The control of the mainstream media in Lagos, his demesne, seems to be his forte but the emergence of the social media platforms seems to have swamped out the influence of the Lagos Press. The apparent monopoly in the control of public discourse and opinion is broken as Tinubu and his mainstream media hirelings have no control over the Nigerian netizens. And his button boys and media aides are laboring strenuously to salvage his obviously spotty image. On the other hand, the more the jobless political pettifoggers and his mealy-mouthed acolytes try to gloss over his numerous scandals through their usual specious arguments, the more they make taut the scandalous noose around his neck.
The Jagaban scandal story is indeed many divergent; ranging from forgery, perjury, fakery, false claims, age controversy, shady background, abuse of office, undefined sources of wealth, illegal conversion of state assets, peculation of public funds, unbridled bulimic tendencies and primitive accumulation to landlordism tendencies by one who in the past had stridently spoken against corruption and who parades himself as a politician on the progressive bent.
No doubt, Tinubu’s health status which he failed to disclose to the public and which makes him frequent overseas for treat is scandalous. It is said that he has obvious signs of senility as his steps are wobbly and his speeches uncoordinated. His few public outings since his emergence as the APC presidential candidate have been a total fiasco apparently making his team bar him from public appearance except that which will be organized or managed by his team. In Gombe, while on a courtesy call to the Emir, he was caught on camera snoozing on a chair while a crucial meeting was going on. Also, in Kaduna, he made a howler while on a public forum wherein he was quoted to have said that he would need people like Nasir El-Rufai who have the ability to “turn a rotten situation into a bad one…” He was conspicuously absent at the NBA, LCCI, LBS, ICAN events even though the events were in Lagos where he resides. And he was also absent during the signing of the peace accord by the presidential candidates of the political parties contesting for the 2023 election.
Furthermore, for foisting Buhari on Nigerians, which he admitted during his infamous “emi lokan” declaration, and his avowal to continue with his Mephistophelean legacies, his choice of running mate as well as the hiring of fake Christian clerics to grace the occasion of the unveiling of his running Alhaji Kashim Shettima are all scandalous. Moreover, his spurious claim to have developed Lagos is seen by many as outrageous and scandalous too.
Equally scandalous is his campaign manifesto which is seen as a parody and a patchwork of political statements designed to deceive the electorates. It is ridiculous that he entitled his campaign manifesto “Renewed Hope 23” thereby acknowledging the hopeless situation of the country at present and yet pledged to continue the obnoxious policies of the author of the hopelessness. Thus, it is naïve and delusional for any anyone to think that Tinubu can rescue Nigeria from the mess he admittedly plunged Nigeria into. He does not have the wherewithal: intensity, integrity, intelligence or the willingness to change the status quo.
Another source of avoidable scandal for Tinubu is the nefarious activities of those around him. Tinubu’s wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, his daughter Folashade Tinubu-Ojo who controls all the markets in Lagos, the Lagos State government officials and the area-boys of Lagos who all seemed fired up to molest and intimidate the perceived Tinubu’s political opponents in Lagos. We could recall the resurgence and emergence of area-boys and the OPC during his time as Lagos State governor. The question agitating the minds of concerned observers is: if they do this when he is yet to win the election, what will happen if he wins?
Added to these are his declarations in the past that portray him scandalously as a charlatan and crass opportunist. For instance, in 1996 in a widely publicized publication which he has not rebutted he declared publicly that he did not believe in one Nigeria and yet he is campaigning desperately to govern an entity he did not believe in. Again, in 2003, he described Buhari thus: “Mohammadu Buhari is an agent of destabilization, ethnic bigot and religious fanatic who if given the chance would ensure the disintegration of the country. His ethnocentricism would jeopardize Nigeria’s national unity.” And in 2015, he described Buhari as the messiah that will save Nigeria just to spite Jonathan whom he vilified and described as clueless and now he is consulting the same clueless demon for support. This is the height of hypocrisy. This is not about stooping to conquer; it is about desperation, inconsistency and hypocrisy. And Tinubu is consistently hypocritical.
But by far the most devastating of the Tinubu scandals is his reported link with drug smuggling cartel in the past which first surfaced during his tenure as Lagos State governor but was suppressed and again resurfaced when it was the subject of the AIT documentary entitled: the Lion of Bourdilon in the build up to the 2015 general election but again was glossed over because the attention then was not on him but on those contesting elections. But recently the certified true copy of an order of a United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois indicting Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for drug trafficking and money laundry has emerged. And it was something that has been reported earlier by a Nigerian investigative journalist, David Hundeyin in documentary that he titled “Bola Ahmed Tinubu: From Drug Lord to Presidential Candidate.” From the report, there is no doubt that while in the US Tinubu was involved in illegal business deals which he is not proud to disclose to Nigerians.
In a 58-page document made available to the public, it was stated clearly that Tinubu was indicted for drug-related offences and money laundry. In an investigation carried by the US IRS agent Kevin Moss, it was revealed that Tinubu who was on a monthly income $2,400 and who admittedly had no other sources of income had over $1.4 million in his account stashed in different banks. It was further revealed that he was in partnership with one Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele and others who are involved in the illicit narcotics trafficking of white heroin. Initially, it was revealed that Tinubu’s accounts were frozen when he could not explain the sources of the said funds but after the intervention of his lawyer, there was plea-bargain which led to his forfeiture of the sum of $460,000 out of the said funds. Members of the Tinubu’s camp are putting up feeble defense in an attempt to explain away what was a clear case of criminal forfeiture.
In the light of the emerging scenario, it is important that the Federal Ministry of Justice, the NDLEA, the INEC and all other relevant agencies intervene and give the right eclaircisseent on the matter in order not to set a false precedence. I am not a legal cognoscente but I know that criminal forfeiture can only come when the culprit must have found guilty. I hope this matter will not be not be suppressed as the reason for the forfeiture was clearly stated in the report. Again, it is left to be seen if Buhari who executed youngster in 1984 for drug-trafficking would allow an indicted drug baron contest for the highest office in the land under his watch.
However, whether Mr. Buhari and the government agencies do the right thing or not, and it is unlikely, one thing is clear and that is that Tinubu has lost every vestige of credibility and it is left for Nigerians to do the needful—to speak with their votes.
Gozie Irogboli
An economist, a novelist and public policy analyst
