The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo, has distanced the All Progressive Congress presidential candidata, Bola Tinubu, from being a drug baron who was involved in the traffic of narcotics in the United States.

Keyamo, who also doubles as APC Presidential Campaign spokesperson, noted that the former governor of Lagos State only shared a block of flat with drug barons about 30 years ago in the US.

His reaction is coming following documents of a Chicago District Court indicting and convicting Tinubu of drug dealings and money laundering in 1993.

The document which emerged online two days ago, described APC standard-bearer as a drug baron, adding that Tinubu entered a plea bargain, leading to the forfeiture of his assets to US authorities in 1993

It was also pointed out that Tinubu forfeited the sum of $460, 000 dollars in his bank account at First Heritage Bank to the US government.

Speaking on Wednesday on Channels TV, Mr Keyamo dismissed such claims, insisting that Tinubu was linked to drug peddlers who were his neighbours.

He said: “What happened was that Tinubu went to open an account. The address which he used in opening the account was the address used by these people. I think some blocks of flats. Maybe, he was happy to be in that block of flats too.

“So, they now link it that the other people they were investigating for narcotics are in the same address used by Asiwaju to open that account.’’

Twitter has been agog with a United States District Court judgement from the Northern District of Illinois taking possession of Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s money over his involvement in drug trafficking.

The judgement 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 organisation owned by Adegboyega Mueez Akande and subsequently forfeited the proceeds of the crime to the U.S. government.

The funds, which were held by First Heritage Bank and Citibank in trust for Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), were forfeited to the U.S. government for being proceeds of drug-related offences.

Details from the now-circulated court papers show that Michael J. Shepard, the attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said in 1993 that the court has jurisdiction over the case brought to it by special agent Kevin Moss.

According to the document, the monies held in those forfeited accounts were proceeds from white heroin drug operations operated by Aknade and his partners.
Akande had a strong and well-connected narcotics business, whose proceeds were substantial and kept in the forfeited bank accounts, the document shows.


The affidavit revealed that the defendant’s—Tinubu funds—represented a substantial part of the proceeds from this operation or property involved in money laundering.

That Judge Michael believes based on indisputable evidence that the funds belonging to Tinubu stashed in his Citibank and First Heritage Bank accounts were proceeds from Akande and other narcotraffickers’ heroin operations. The judge concluded that the proceeds be forfeited to the US government.

Below is an excerpt of the court judgement:

Court documents released by the United States District Court have shown that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, was culpable in drug trafficking and money laundering charge instituted against him in 1993.

This latest development put paid to all controversies around the Ikirun-born former Lagos State governor as a political figure with a history of drug peddling and money laundering.

In the court documents made public on August 10, 2022 by the US court sitting in the district of Illinois, eastern division, but brought to public notice on Tuesday by Peoples Gazette, the court affirmed that Tinubu and his cronies engaged in drug peddling “on a large scale and the operations were substantial”.

Magistrate Rijcklo, who granted the forfeiture order, stated that the funds found in the account numbers domiciled with Citibank and Heritage Bank respectively, operated by Tinubu “represent proceeds of narcotics trafficking and further represent property involved in money laundering in violation of 18 USC §§ 1956 and 1957”.

The court, importantly, “ordered that the funds in the account 263226700 held by First Heritage Bank in the name of Bola Tinubu represent proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were involved in financial transactions” which run foul of US laws.

It was further held by the said court that, “First Heritage Bank shall issue a check in the amount of $460,000 payable to Federal reserve Bank of Chicago and that the funds shall be disposed of according to the law.”

In a manner suggestive of their illicit business, the Tinubu’s successful drug cartel kept a number of bank accounts in the US before the law caught up with them as evidenced in the said certified true copy of the court documents marked 93C.4483 and sighted by FIJ.

Nigerians who disagree with Tinubu on political grounds and who feel his personal life is questionable have consistently called him out. Many Nigerians have gone beyond verbal accusations to submit petitions to anti-graft agencies and drug control agencies to investigate the two-time governor of Lagos State.

Aside drug-trafficking baggage, which has been hanging over his neck for years, Tinubu has been accused of falsifying his age and altering educational credentials in a clear bid to achieve his lifetime political ambition. Public scrutiny to checkmate his personal life was recently rekindled over his ambition to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

However, media records show that in 2003, US Consulate Office in Lagos wrote a letter to Tafa Balogun, the then Inspector-General of Police, saying its records did not indict Tinubu of any wrongdoing at no time in the past within the territory of the United States of America.

"Mr Onanuga did not clarify whether or not Mr Tinubu could be held responsible by the law since he was the candidate whose signature appeared on the falsified document filed under oath.

Mr Onanuga said Nigerians should disregard perjury charges against Mr Tinubu because he has not held any political office since he concluded his two terms in 2007, until earlier this month when he clinched the presidential nomination of the ruling party...."

Bayo Onanuga, Mr Tinubu’s campaign aide did not immediately reply to messages seeking clarification on his principal’s contradictory statements.

"...Put simply, Tinubu was alleged to be a bagman handling and laundering drug money. Tinubu claimed the funds belonged to Kafaru Tinubu and Alhaja Habibat Mogaji, even though, years later, he told The News magazine that all the money belonged to him(crooked criminal ).

In the end, Tinubu forfeited $460,000 held in his name by Heritage Bank, where he and Akande had strong links. “Why did they return $1m?” Fani-Kayode asked.

The biggest lie, peddled by Keyamo and Fani-Kayode, is that the $460,000 forfeited by Tinubu was a tax.The cover sheet of the certified true copy of the settle ment, issued on August 10, 2022, explicitly states under “Nature of Suit” that it’s forfeiture under “Code 625: Drug related seizure of property 21 USC 881.” The two boxes under “Federal tax suits” were not ticked. So, the $460, 000 was not a tax but a drug-related forfeiture.

Tinubu’s surrogates and spin doctors say he wasn’t indicted or convicted. But no rational individual would forfeit $460,000 of his hard-earned money, especially when linked to drug trafficking, without fighting to clear his name.

By having a “drug related seizure of property” recorded against his name, Tinubu is seriously tainted as a presidential candidate, and would cause Nigeria huge embarrassment if he became president....

Fahdiga:
Keyamo is more dumber than I thought.

Zonefree:

That guy made me realize that a mad man can also become a lawyer in Nigeria. He's a big disgrace!

Fahdiga:
Exactly. Merely looking at him will show you that he isn't sound upstairs.

Zonefree:

Have you seen a sane person supporting APC before?

Massiveglory:
PODATTI really hit these guys where dem no believe.

Tinubu mistakenly share flat with druggies but tunubu paid $460,000 . Who de fool Who?

Festus keyamo ( SAN), stop to de disturb us.
Daddy don carry the matter go court.
Leave us alone. Social media no be court.
Take your matter to the court.
A drug star will not lead our beloved nation.

Exmilitant:
See my brothers from the east masturbating on this thread.
una hatred for Tinubu no get part two.

the fact is you all grabbing at straws....

in 2014 you dug up Buhari's past that he is without a secondary school and went to court salivating that he would be disqualified. Eight years later the man with no school cert is still your president!

Would the Igbo man ever learn?

The coup is against the Igbo man not against Peter Obi.

Dig up all the facts you have against Tinubu he is going to be your president for the next four years.

Ariwoola is in charge of the supreme court!!

Typicool8:



I already knew someone with maggotic brain will drag easterners into this thread...very shameless dumb bleeps