Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, stated this in an interview with SaharaReporters.
The campaign council of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said that the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu has continued to display a typical character of drug dealers by lying under an oath.
Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, stated this in an interview with SaharaReporters, while calling for the disqualification of the former Lagos State governor from the 2023 presidential race.
The Atiku camp noted that Tinubu lied under oath in 1999 in an affidavit he swore and submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when he contested for governorship seat in Lagos.
According to Ibe, Tinubu in 1999 filled the INEC form with an affidavit and what people did not understand was that the affidavit he swore means that anything he said there could be used against him, and so he lied in that form.
Tinubu in the certified form he submitted to the INEC in 1999 stated that he attended Government College, Ibadan from 1965-1968; Richard Daley College, Chicago, Illinois, USA from 1969-1971; University of Chicago from 1972-1976 and Chicago State University from 1977-1979.
Also, in the part of the form which asked if he had ever been involved in any trial relating to narcotic drugs or any psychotropic substance, Tinubu answered No.
Meanwhile, a US Court in a judgment docketed on July 26, 1993, and certified by Thomas O. Burton, the clerk of the court, indicted Tinubu for heroin trafficking in the state of Illinois through a proxy organization owned by Adegboyega Mueez Akande. Tinubu subsequently forfeited the proceeds of the crime to the U.S. government.
In the Verified Complaint for forfeiture in case No. 93 C 4483 obtained by SaharaReporters in 2008, which was filed on July 26, 1993 before the Hon. Judge Nordberg of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States Government urged the Court to order the forfeiture of funds in accounts Nos. 263226700 held by First Heritage Bank in the name of Bola Tinubu, funds in accounts 39483134, 39483396, 4650279566, 00400220, 39936404 and 39936383 held by Citibank N.A in the name of Bola Tinubu and funds in accounts 52050-89451952,52050-89451952, 52050-89451953 held by Citibank in the name of Bola Tinubu because there was probable cause to believe that the funds in Tinubu’s bank accounts represented proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were monies involved in financial transactions in violations of 18 U.S.C, sections 1956 and 1957 and therefore, was forfeitable to the U.S Government.
SaharaReporters reported that after a protracted litigation in which Tinubu claimed that the monies legitimately belonged to him, his wife, Oluremi Tinubu and his surrogate mother, one Alhaja Mogaji, Tinubu finally opted for a stipulated settlement with the U.S government.
According to the settlement order dated September 15, 1993; Hon. Judge John A Nordberg ordered that the sum of $460,000 held by Tinubu in The First Heritage Bank account be forfeited to the United States Government.
The Court also ordered the release of the funds held in the Citibank account and any money held in excess of $460,000 at the First Heritage account to Tinubu in line with the agreement and stipulation reached by Tinubu with the federal agents.
However, Tinubu has always exonerated himself from the crime and has subsequently held top political positions in the country including having served as the Lagos State governor and a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Speaking further on why Tinubu should be disqualified from the 2023 presidential race, Ibe said “We have established that yes, he went to Chicago State University, he went to Richard Daley College, but he didn’t go to University of Chicago and he didn’t go to Government College, Ibadan.
“That is why in 2022, he scrubbed all those aspects as if they never existed including primary school and left only Chicago State University which was the one he attended.”
Ibe said that while Tinubu did not attend University of Chicago and having claimed that he attended the university under oath, makes him a liar and a lawbreaker but “It is now as if it is nothing, but even though he made that affidavit in 1999, he has broken the law and it is said that crime doesn't rot, so as it was in 1999 is still as it is today.”
“There is no confirmation that he attended University of Chicago, however, there is confirmation that he attended Chicago State University. The current President of the Alumni Association of the Government College Ibadan, said that he (Tinubu) never attended the college.”
“It is also suspicious that he (Tinubu) has a degree in Accountancy from Chicago State University without a record of primary and secondary school. What then happened to his primary and secondary school. So, there is something fishy about it.
“The truth of the matter is that that is the character of people who are into drugs. They always have something to hide. Obviously the fact that he has not told about his age and early education, the man has something to hide.
“Tinubu's issue is a settled issue. The court in the United States in an investigation linked Tinubu to drug trafficking and the investigation was a serious investigation, and we have seen that the only reason he forfeited his money is because it was linked to drugs.
“So, it is settled and those certified copies of the judgment further settle it. So, this is an indictment against him by a foreign jurisdiction. The documents are available to the authorities to be able to do the needful.
“The truth of the matter is that Tinubu is not supposed to be in the political party for this race in a democratic system. Someone had tried it in Colombia, that is the Baba of one of the drug lords and he failed. It cannot happen in Nigeria. Having such a man who has been linked to such crimes will compromise our security.”