₦airaland Forum

So by his logic Turakin Adamawa Atiku Abubakar is the best candidate as he has built the most bridges

Sadly nigerian youth no get sense. Still living our fathers dreams

You like living in an utopia. Welldone! Has the current leadership of kwara fared any better? Fashola is not in the same political class as The former Senate President. Unbiasedly adjudged the Best Senate President Nigeria has ever produced.Its in fact Fashola that has been the greatest disappointment ever. He has been Minister for so long and faded out of the consciousness of Nigerians.The only memory left of him is ask Lekki Toll Gate Jack Bauer

slimfit1:
He should not bother contesting Kwara state as an example of a failed doctor governing a state with no known infrastructure to say he did a fantastic job. What do you call a fantastic job something your opponents can't oppose but commend you for a great idea. 8 years as governor nothing to show for it.
Been British does not mean you have the right to be a Nigerian President when you can't even make laws for 4 years that would help keep citizens safe from bad presidents. Back to Kwara the state Kwara is at the moment says that Saraki is out of his depth to think he can contest because he can speak Queens English.
Saraki lacks the leadership qualities to think he can come and rule us. People like gov Fashola has not come out Saraki is coming out. If you can't change Ilorin you can't change Nigeria, my friends.

People, we need leaders with ideas that will move us forward, Saraki is backward. He is a salary and celebrity governor that's all he has to offer nothing else.
If I were to be a medical doctor and a governor, Kwara would have been a medical tourist state where governors will be travelling to for medical check up.

PDP Alaga has been zoned to Ariwa. BUKOLA OMO ODUDUWA NIYEN

sageb:
He can win the pdp National chairmanship election but presidency is not for Bukola

Former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has never hidden his ambition to be president of Nigeria and his eyes remain on the ball. In this report, Segun James looks at the politics of a man, who has suddenly become an issue in the match towards 2023

Two years after Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki left office as the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he is still an issue in the nation’s body polity, more so as he assumed a prominent place in the leadership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Since leaving office, he has not only been a rallying point for the party, he has also spent his time reconciling the fractured party and getting it ready for the 2023 general election.

Synergy may not be an ideal word in politics, yet, accepted political management theory holds that, there are a few ways for a party to boost its value, most especially among states controlled by it. This has been the work of Saraki in the last few months.

However, there’s a reason for Saraki’s efforts. Kit is not just because he has his eyes on the presidency in 2023, but really, what’s an ambition without a viable platform? In addition, he believes the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has performed badly in the last six years, hence the need to go for a competent and capable hand that can lead the nation out of the doldrums.

He is neither from the core north nor from the south. He comes from the middle belt, a part of the country that has also been agitating that the presidency should be zoned to them. He believes he would be a unifier in a nation that is torn between ethnic and religious divides. He has been going round the country, promising, albeit on behalf of the party, to make a country suffering collapse of confidence to stand tall again.

Until Saraki was being harassed by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for alleged financial crimes committed as governor of Kwara State from 2007 to 2015, that it became known to many that he might have been marked for decimation.

Although the EFCC has denied arresting him over allegations of fraud and money laundering, but his invitation was evidently suspect. EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren said contrary to reports, the former governor of Kwara simply honoured the invitation of the commission, stressing that he was not arrested.

“It is true he was invited, and he responded but there are no details at the moment,” said Uwujaren

Saraki was said to have been arrested in Abuja shortly after attending a wedding ceremony of the daughter of one of his loyalists and the Third Republic Kwara State governor, Senator Shaaba Lafiagi.

A statement by his Media Office, signed by Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, also confirmed that Saraki was invited to clarify issues that the commission raised with him, but was never arrested.

“Following the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on the Fundamental Human Rights case filed by Saraki during the period of the former Chairman of the EFCC, which precluded the commission from investigating him until the matter is dispensed with, the commission at the last hearing on July 14, 2021, pleaded with the judge that the order was preventing them from doing their job.

“Following this complaint, Saraki, as a responsible citizen, on his own volition approached the commission that at the earliest convenient date, he was willing to visit the commission’s office and clarify all issues they might want to raise with him.

“He, therefore, visited the commission’s office this afternoon and answered some questions. He is back home. He was not arrested. Saraki also assured the commission that he has nothing to hide and will always make himself available to clear all issues that may require his attention.”

If there was one thing that the former President of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump has, it is to intuitively see the future opposition. It was this that made him ask the Ukrainian government to investigate and discredit a yet to be nominated Joe Biden as the candidate of the opposition Democratic Party.

It was this intuition that also made him say, even before the 2020 election that, “I will not concede if I lose as it would be deemed corrupt.” Both scenarios became true. Today, in Nigeria, a similar scenario is playing out. The attempt to discredit potential opposition candidates by the ruling APC is the name of the game.

Saraki is no stranger to controversy. The former president of the senate was one of the five governors that crossed the Rubicon by defecting from the PDP to the newly formed congregation of political parties, the APC in 2013, a move that led to the loss of power by the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan to APC’s Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

Not long after that, he had another reason to return to his PDP. The move, this time, did not achieve the dramatic effect of the first.

Exceptional times call for exceptional measures. This appears to be the situation in the Nigerian polity. Yes, politics has begun in earnest and the race for 2023 is hotting up; and Saraki is one of the people on the front line.

Over the past decades, Saraki has been a recurring decimal in the political scene of Nigeria. Either as governor of Kwara State or President of the Senate, he had consciously stayed politically relevant since 1999, building bridges across the different divides.

For Saraki, taking the road less travelled has often led to better results, even though very controversial. But one that is often overlooked: crisscrossing from the PDP to the APC and back is no big deal.

Scion of the enigmatic Ilorin political leader, Dr. Olusola Saraki, Bukola took his first tottering steps in politics at the coming of the 4th Republic and within a few years, stepped out of his father’s shadows and established himself as a leader and force to be reckoned with.

However, the surprising thing about Saraki’s invitation by the EFCC for alleged corruption charges committed while in office as governor was not the allegation, but the timing.

Saraki is today one of the leading contenders for the presidential ticket of the opposition PDP, even though none has openly declared for the nation’s number seat. Given his antecedent as a political strategist, the belief in some quarters is that the invitation was a warning sign of things to come.

The story of Saraki is the tale of a man that has been able to defy the odds at every turn. Until the “Otògé” movement in Kwara, which uprooted his stranglehold on the state’spolitics, Saraki, like his father, had been able to negotiate himself into the national consciousness and reckoning.

But the Otògé movement, which changed the dynamics in the state politics, uprooted Saraki and his loyalists from the state’s political system, has turned out positive. Barely two years later, Saraki is not just back into the reckoning, he is the in-thing, a situation that is giving the state governor sleepless nights.

A few years ago, PDP’s political hegemony in Nigeria was unassailable, but today, all of that is history. No thanks to Saraki and others, who left the party. But now that he is back to the fold, could he repeat the magic of 2013? That remains one of the salient questions as the race towards 2023 inches closer.

In politics, culture splits wildly. Politics encourages one another to cross-carpet along the political divide without regard to ideological difference.

The going forth and back by Saraki and a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has been a source of concern for some of the electorate, who have keyed into their ideologies. But, surely, there is a similarity between the PDP and the APC, which in fact, is the reason for the seeming confusion over the ideal choice among the voting Nigerians. It is the lack of ideology between both parties.

Every crisis is a challenge and an opportunity. Yesterday’s solutions are often unsuitable for today’s victory. Since Saraki’s reconciliation committee started working, the PDP seemed to have gotten its groove back. The party is not only on its way back from the edge of extinction but from all indications, it may end up giving the APC a run for its money and vanished goodwill.

With Nigerians fed up with the almost eight years of the APC and President Buhari, there is certainly hope for the opposition party; and Saraki seems to be one of the “great white hopes” that could drive the process. But will he and the PDP succeed?

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/10/5/2023-and-oloye-sarakis-irresistible-charm/

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari and former President Goodluck Jonathan, Wednesday met at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The former president came into the premises at about 4pm.

It was not clear why he visited President Buhari as he did not speak to the media afterwards.

However, Jonathan had been active as ECOWAS special envoy to Mali, a position that has brought him in more regular touch with President Buhari in recent times.

Source – Vanguard

Predictably i don enter frontpage. What that tells you? Nairaland as usual with eerything on the internet is interested in generating clicks! IPOB or its sympathizers. Just dont work yourselves up over these things

Yes! Tinubu tho has a criminal history linked to drugs. But with regards to his CCT trial I didn’t see any issues before the Tran begun

Perfectbeing:
would you say all these if Tinubu was the case study?

We have to keep asking questions

He remains a pipe dream as it stands

Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, a former Niger Delta militant leader has described the Southeast region as ‘a barren soil, and of no economic importance to Nigeria’.

According to Asari-Dokubo, Igbos only have the ability to turn money into money — nothing more. He warned that the peaceful atmosphere needed to ensure businesses thrive, is threatened due to the activities of the so-called ‘Unknown Gunmen’ troubling the Southeast.

Aproko TV� Hard Facts!

Southeast Nigeria has almost no substantial natural resources.��

The South East is almost a barren soil.�

The South East has no outstanding Federal importance. ���

The only thing the Igbos in the East have to their advantage is the ability to turn money � into more money � � �; but they can only achieve that if the East is peaceful for business.

Today the Southeast has begun a movement that could turn the East into a desolate desert �️....

To those hailing Unknown Gunmen, you should also know that a bullet knows nobody... �

All we have to do, is sit down and watch the show.... ���

https://www.facebook.com/306509392827347/posts/2380570565421209/

For recap, the claims against him are as follows:
(1) He did not resign on time.
If the letter was submitted by him on time, and the filing was delayed by the firm. Who do you hold responsible?
(2) He did not report assets he, or his children, owned.
But according to property law, do you own that which you only partly have a claim to?
(3) He operated/maintained a foreign account while being Governor.
Can any national-level politician holding public office currently claim not to be doing so? CCB knows this, so it ignores enforcement.

Perfectbeing:
There's no too much problem when a private individual is cut in this kind of dirt.. Same cannot be said of public office holders.

You lack the brain space to even have educated convos.

Mace0lane:
You igbo father was jubilatinh when Ganduje tape were aired. You wailed when the court acquittd Tinubu, this is the time for criminal Peter let him go to jail.

In my limited understanding, this sort of investigation is required to keep a strict vigil on those who otherwise assume that their acts, in spite of being in flagrant violation of law, would go unnoticed. This is not the case that every person named in the list has illegally stashed monies abroad and evaded tax in Nigeria. Law will follow its course and upon careful perusal of the evidence available, those who are proven to have violated law of the land, will be dealt with accordingly.Until then......Siddon look. Like Tinubu like Saraki like Orji..

Mace0lane:
Apologize won't do he should rot in jail for his criminal act or clear is name the way the likes of Tinubu Orji clear their names. No fool should launder the criminal Peter Obi to Nigerians again, we are now wise. You can take to the east to loot your destiny again

It is totally permissible to have overseas investments, including in the nature of holding shares in an overseas company, or being a director in overseas companies, but the same has to be within the four corners of the law governing such investments. For instance, the overseas direct investment policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Similarly, it is totally legal to plan one's investment in a way so that minimum tax liability is attracted.This is called tax planning and has to be completely differentiated from tax evasion which is avoiding to pay taxes against the tax liability which has accrued on the tax payer.

The corrupt elite will scuttle every effort for him to emerge

From what I have read so far all of the transactions, although embarrassing, are legal. I suspect that people will continue to scrutinize the records to see if there might be a ground for criminal prosecution.

I think Pandora Papers is a commendable effort of Journalists community. But I think the whole issue is being blown out of proportion.

In my limited understanding, this sort of investigation is required to keep a strict vigil on those who otherwise assume that their acts, in spite of being in flagrant violation of law, would go unnoticed. This is no one's case that every person named in the list has illegally stashed monies abroad and evaded tax in Nigeria. Law will follow its course and upon careful perusal of the evidence available, those who are proven to have violated law of the land, will be dealt with accordingly.Until then......

It is totally permissible to have overseas investments, including in the nature of holding shares in an overseas company, or being a director in overseas companies, but the same has to be with in the four corners of the law governing such investments. For instance, the overseas direct investment policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Similarly, it is totally legal to plan one's investment in a way so that minimum tax liability is attracted.This is called tax planning and has to be completely differentiated from tax evasion which is avoiding to pay taxes against the tax liability which has accrued on the tax payer.

I think that, as usual, the media is whipping up a villagers-with-pitchforks type of hysteria, whilst not in full possession of the facts or any understanding of company law.

There is nothing intrinsically illegal about setting up companies offshore. And there's nothing intrinsically illegal about trying to limit one's tax liability.

That's not to say that people don't do this stuff to hide assets or launder money. But you can't just assume that everyone named in the papers is a criminal just because you don't like or understand what they have done.

Now, people may not like a law that allows rich people to get richer and pay less tax. I'm not a fan of it myself, but there shouldn't be a witch hunt against them, we should all calm the hell down and think about whether the legislative framework in this area should be altered.

At this juncture, what is required at our end is to refrain from forming opinion about the individuals named in the list, And viewing these issues from a tribalistic lens and to carefully keep an eye on these investigations, and keep ourselves updated.

He is a good man. Separatists aside, Nigerians are not actively malicious towards the country. Visions for its betterment just differ.

That said, Professor Osinbajo will not be the President. He lacks a base and a war chest. Unlike President Jonathan, he won’t have access to Presidential resources. He also cannot distance himself from the policies of the Buhari administration. The fact that we HAVE been in recession for the majority of the administration, for example.

That means that the reality where he becomes President and fixes Nigeria will have to stay imaginary. I doubt he could have, even if he was given the chance. Surely the perennial search for a political messiah is played out by now?

The problem with Nigeria is not leadership. It is that, increasingly, Nigerians seem to think that citizenship is a one-way street. All stolen benefits, no spurned duties. By this logic, when the one guy who will ensure that the benefits aren’t stolen turns up, Nirvana will follow. That strikes me as a dream. Stay stuck in a dream for too long and it becomes a nightmare.

Most of the concerns about the RNA vaccines are not based on any scientific studies. Much of it is misinformation and conspiracy theories coming from the anti vaccine conspiracy groups,and most of it is based on a very poor understanding of basic biology.

The mRNA vaccines only remain in the body for a short period of time and they are then broken down and destroyed. This leaves the only memory in the body is in the immune system. The RNA does not need to interact with the virus at all. The vaccine just triggers the natural production of immune cells and proteins. All the side effects seen thus far appear in the first two weeks, and none beyond that.

We have the testimony of millions of people at this point as to how the vaccines have impacted them. That would be part of that observation part/real world data gathering. The vaccines have been available for over a year at this point and millions of people have gotten at least one shot.

Statistics have also shown that in the second wave, the virus and its variants largely hits unvaccinated people harder than people who have been vaccinated. Just about 100% of all the hospitalized and deaths are occurring among the unvaccinated Those that are vaccinated who get the virus are mostly spared the most severe infection.

ny12345678:
What clinical proof are you talking about, I asked you to provide proof and you say the video I shared is fake. You see you've no proof. I've seen posts of many people who got the shot reporting deadly adverse reactions on social media sites. The doctor in the video I shared made revelations on what they found in the vaccine. You're free to believe what you want. My advice to you, don't take the vaccine.

What kind of proof do you mean??. There's clinical proof of its efficacy published all over the internet by researchers. What sort of proof do you want, Proof that the video you are posting is fake?

ny12345678:
If you say it is safe, provide proof

Trash! The Vaccine is safe, stop with the conspiracy

Porting to TELEGRAM, it's even more secure and offers a much better user experience

This article has been in the news long before Pandora's Box. Both are equally relevant. None has been indicted of any crimes whatsoever.

kayusely70:
Trying to malign Osinbajo to cover up the latest Pandora news indicting their man. Shioor!

A close look at your profile paints a picture of the Low Level of intellect you possess. You can not even make thoughtful arguments on any topics whatsoever. You are a sad excuse for nairalander.

richmond500:
Ipob piglets have conme again

The name of Vice President Yemi Osinabjo has surfaced in the unfolding Magugate scandal in Nigeria.

The development has given credence to our Tuesday story on the Magu probe. This newspaper, The Southern Examiner had reported that the ongoing probe of the Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, is threatening to open a high profile Pandora’s Box of corruption under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

In the news report it was pointed out that before the 2015 general elections, Buhari was vociferous about fighting corruption, and his administration and party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been vilifying the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that dominated Nigeria for 16 years (1999-2015) for wrecking the economy of the country because of corruption.

‘’It seems, the Buhari administration has become a safe haven for corrupt top officials who are standing the anti-corruption war of the administration on the head.

‘’With the Magu probe, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Professor Femi Odekunle, is busy exposing the under belly of the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami (SAN)’’, the report says.

Now, it is being alleged that Magu embezzled over N39 billion out of which he allegedly gave Osinabjo N4.00 billion, after the President Buhari deputy allegedly gave instructions to the hunted anti-graft chief to release some of the recovered loots.

Apparently scandalised by what is tumbling out to the Presidential Investigation Panel probing Magu, the Presidency has suspended the EFCC chief from office.

Magu, the Buhari administration anti-corruption hunter was arrested on Monday by a combined team of secret police operatives and policemen at the Wuse II office of the anti-graft agency to
face an inter-agency committee investigating corruption allegations against him.

He was kept behind bars at the Nigeria Police Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Area 10, Abuja, on Monday night on the orders of the panel that drilled him on Tuesday.

Securing agents are busy combing two houses belonging to the suspended EFCC czarin Abuja. The raid of his houses is part of the investigations over allegation of fraud leveled against him.

Preliminary findings have allegedly unraveled a pattern of corrupt enrichment that if prosecuted, will land the top anti-corruption fighter behind bars for years.

As early as 4 am on Tuesday, Magu boys in the anti-graft agency allegedly invaded the headquarters of the agency and made away with files and computers containing important information.

Magu allegedly sold recovered properties without due process, and approval from the authorities.

From the agency’s zonal office in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, 167 recovered trucks were said to be missing and cannot be accounted for. 27 of those trucks were allegedly sold this year.

Magu, according to his foes, admitted that he flagrantly defied the Act setting up the agency which stipulates he reports to the supervisory ministry which is the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.

But, he allegedly ignored requests of assistance to investigate and recover about N67 billion by sister agencies including the office of the Inspector General of Police and the Presidency.

According to those who are calling for his head, Magu could not account for a missing N37 billion as indicated in the submitted report of the presidential asset recovery panel headed by the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

He was said to have mentioned a N4.00 billion that he released to Osinbajo based on directives the very day the president left the country for the United Kingdom on medical treatment.

Apparently alarmed by the evidence before the investigators, pro-Magu forces are said to be pleading for a soft landing for the anti-graft fighter turned corrupt suspect.

Sahara Reporters has obtained original copies of a judgement in the case of United States v Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos State, in which Bola Tinubu was charged (along with other defendants) in a case of massive drug trafficking and money laundering. This judgement directly relates to (and further documents) the September 16, 2008 "How U.S Federal Agents successfully Linked Bola Tinubu to drug Trafficking Ring in Chicago" report by Sahara Reporters

Snippets of the case and subsequent judgement are presented below. The complete document (VERY LARGE pdf file - 4mb) can be downloaded at the end of this report.

The United States of America, by its attorney, Michael J. Shepard, United States Attorney for Northern District of Illinois, for its verified complaint of forfeiture, states as follows:

1. This is a FORFEITURE action under 21 U.S.C , ss88 and 18, ss 981.....
2. The DEFENDANT funds are located in the above-described accounts and were SEIZED pursuant to PROCESS ISSUED BY THIS COURT....
...
4.... beginning as early as 1998, Adegboyega Mueez Akande, WITH OTHERS OPERATED a organiszation (sic) which DISTRIBUTED WHITE HEROIN, a controlled substance under Title 21 of the United States Code.
5.... this DISTRIBUTION OPERATION was conducted on a LARGE SCALE and the PROCEEDS of the operation SUBSTANTIAL. The defendant funds represent proceeds of this OPERATION of property involved in MONEY LAUNDERING.
6.... the defendant funds represent proceeds of NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING ... and ... MONEY LAUNDERING..... the funds are therefore FOREFEITABLE to the United States....

JUDGEMENT:
j... Neither a claim nor answer has been filed on behalf of the defendant funds .... accordingly, it hereby
ORDERED that the funds in the AMOUNT of $460,000 in account.... in the name of BOLA TINUBU represents proceeds of NARCOTICS or were involved in financial transactions in violation of 18 U.S.C ss 1956 and 1957 and therefore these funds are forfeit to the United States.....

Revealed: U.S Federal Agents Link Bola Tinubu to drug Trafficking Ring in Chicago

Facts have emerged that the erstwhile Governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu may have been involved in a white heroin trafficking network which operated in Chicago and some parts of Indiana and led by one Adegboyega Mueez Akande between 1988 and 1993. The source of the white heroine was identified as one Mr. Lee Andrew Edwards who was incarcerated for attempting to murder a federal agent while the agent was executing a search warrant on him.

According to the Verified Complaint for forfeiture in case No. 93 C 4483 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.

However, in a tacit defense of the ownership of the funds, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu averred in Court that the funds belonged to himself, his wife, K.O Tinubu and his surrogate mother, Alhaja Mogaji and warranted that they had exclusive right, title and interest to the funds.

In an affidavit sworn to by Kevin Moss, a Special Agent with the United States Internal Revenue Service, criminal investigation division in support of the verified complaint for forfeiture of Bola Tinubu’s moneys held in various Bank accounts, the agent gave a vivid account of how he came to the conclusion that the funds were proceeds of narcotics transaction in violation of the U.S law.

Mr. Moss averred that prior to and during 1988; the government became involved in the investigation of a white heroin trafficking network operating in Chicago, Illinois and Hammond, Indiana. The investigation disclosed that an individual known as Lee Andrew Edwards was a source of white heroin. The government sources provided information about Lee Andrew Edwards including the identity of a telephone number which activated in electronic pager. This pager according to him was to be called to place an order for white heroin. According to Mr. Moss, this pager was subscribed to by one Adegboyega Mueez Akande who at that time was a resident of Chicago.

Mr. Moss further averred that during February 1988, an individual named Abiodun Agbele arrived in the U.S from Nigeria and during investigation by the government, Agbele disclosed that Akande was his uncle who provided him an apartment in Hammond, Indiana.

According to Agbele, Mr. Akande returned to Nigeria in1990; however, before he left, he instructed Agbale to serve as a source of white heroin for Mr. Lee Andrew Edwards as a result of which Agbele sold white heroin for Lee Andrew Edwards on numerous occasions. Following a tip off, Agbele sold one ounce of white heroin to a law enforcement agent undercover on November 28, 1990 for $7,000 and was subsequently arrested. After his arrest, Agbele agreed to cooperate with the law enforcement agents regarding the white heroin distribution and network of Akande.

According to Agbele, Akande controlled the operation of white heroin from Nigeria in conjunction with other individuals in Nigeria and the U.S. One other individual who worked with Akande according to the affidavit was identified as Bola Tinubu who later became the governor of Lagos state from 1999 to 2007.

The investigation also revealed that in December 1989, Akande took Bola Tinubu to First Heritage bank where Bola Tinubu opened an individual money market. In the account opening application, Tinubu, gave his address as 7504 South Stewart, Chicago, the same address used previously by Akande and his company, Globe-Link. This is the same address used as the drop-off point for packages from Nigeria that contained the white heroin. According to bank records, Bola Tinubu also opened a joint checking account in his name and the name of his wife, Oluremi Tinubu. Mrs. Tinubu had previously opened a joint Bank account also in the same bank with Abdrey Akande, the wife of the heroin kingpin, Adegboyega Mueez Akande.

Upon opening the account, Tinubu deposited the sum of $1,000 in traveler’s check. However, five days after opening the account, specifically, on January 4, 1990, Tinubu deposited the sum of $80,000 into the account.

According to the federal agent, in a credit application dated January 6, 1990, Bola Tinubu disclosed that he resided at 7504 South Stewart and that Mueez A. Akande was his cousin. Tinubu further stated that he was an employee of Mobil Oil Nigeria Limited, Fairfax, Virginia and his take home pay was $2,400 per month. Additionally, Tinubu stated on the application that he had no other sources of income and listed his wife, Oluremi Tinubu as co-applicant for the application for automobile loan. The loan was secured with the certificate of deposit in the amount of $10,000 which Tinubu had purchased with a withdrawal from the $80,000 deposit in his checking account.

According to the federal agent, Bank records from First heritage Bank disclosed that in 1990 alone, Bola Tinubu deposited $661,000 into his individual money market account and in 1993; he deposited the sum of $1,216,500 into the same money market account. The agent further avers that in 1991, Tinubu began opening accounts at Citibank in the section known as the world-wide personal banking unit where he transferred the sum of $560,000 from his money market account at the First Heritage Bank.

This development prompted the Federal agents to interview representatives from Mobil Oil regarding Tinubu’s employment status and his take-home pay. The Mobil Oil representatives confirmed to the investigators that Tinubu was employed by the Mobil Oil as a treasurer. Mobil Oil further told the federal agents that this position did not involve the transfer of large amounts of money between banking institutions. Mobil oil representatives also stated that under no circumstance would Tinubu be permitted to retain money belonging to Mobil Oil in accounts bearing Tinubu’s name. Finally, Mobil Oil confirmed that the corporation never had any accounts in banks in the southern suburbs of Chicago.

On January 10, 1992, the federal agents obtained a court Order freezing Tinubu’s accounts at First Heritage Bank and Citibank respectively. Thereafter, Tinubu contacted the First Heritage Bank to transfer money from his accounts and was advised that the accounts had been seized by the U.S Treasury.

On January 13, 1992, Mr. Moss, the Federal agent contacted Bola Tinubu in Nigeria by phone using a number provided to the First Heritage Bank by Tinubu himself. Mr. Moss averred that during the course of the interview, Bola Tinubu confirmed that he knew Mueez Adegboyega Akande. Tinubu further admitted during the interview with the federal agent that he had wire transferred $100,000 to Akande’s bank account in Houston and that the $80,000.00 of the funds used to open the account at First Heritage Bank had come from Akande. Tinubu further admitted that he had other accounts in Fairfax, Virginia and London.

Concluding his affidavit evidence, Mr. Moss stated that with all these evidence, there was probable cause to believe that the funds in the accounts held by First Heritage Bank and Citibank, N.A in the name of Bola Tinubu represented property that was involved in narcotics transaction in violation of the U.S law. He therefore, urged the Court to issue an order of forfeiture of the funds.

After a protracted litigation in which Bola Tinubu claimed that the monies legitimately belonged to him, his wife, Oluremi Tinubu and his surrogate mother, one Alhaja Mogaji, Bola 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 Bola 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 Bola Tinubu in line with the agreement and stipulation reached by Tinubu with the federal agents.

Ironically, this case came up at the peak of the struggle against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election by the Gen. Babagida-led military junta during which time Tinubu as a member and one of the leading financiers of the National democratic Coalition (NADECO) made several “pro-democracy” trips to the U.S ostensibly to press for U.S sanctions against the Nigerian junta. It is, therefore, doubtful whether most of those trips were actually connected with the June 12, struggle after all.

A political thinker posited that politics is a concentric circle of conspiracies. It is such a conspiratorial game that while statesmen worry about development to cater for the present and coming generations, politicians are busy scheming how to retain power, return to power, or gain power. Nigerian politicians could pass as the worst hue to be found anywhere. They bend the rules and violate the laws with impunity just to attain these stated private objectives.

For about a year now, the name of the former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has been popping up here and there whenever the successor of the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, is being discussed. Some say it is in the best interest of the North to hand power back to Jonathan and take it back in 4 years in line with the principle of rotation of presidential power ruling the current democratic dispensation.

This argument is tenable since Jonathan is statutorily barred from contesting more than one term if he becomes the President of Nigeria in 2023. Some also say that the push for the return of Jonathan is to put a wedge to the aspiration of the South East to produce the nation’s next President. The proponents of this school of thought believe the Hausa-Fulani who hold the aces now are still wary of supporting an Igbo man to become the President of Nigerian. The reason often given is just the civil war and the issues that led to it, and the lingering bitterness and unpreparedness to forgive and let go on both sides.

The poppers of Jonathan in this regard think the former President should be able to take the wind off the sail of the South East agitation for the office of the President and get the zone to join his Presidency one more time instead and dump their aspiration even if it means doing so grudgingly.

For a fact, South East was the backbone of the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency and supported his re-election with over 85% of their votes in the 2015 Presidential Election and has continued to suffer marginalization and exclusion as a consequence and got branded 5% voters of the Buhari Presidency. The calculation of those angling for the return of Jonathan is that it is only him that can pull the rug off the feet of the push for Nigerian President of southeast extraction and offer the Igbo man a sort of dream deferred.

This permutation aims to kill two birds with one stone: stopping the South East and getting power to stay in the South in this season for just one term. It would have been a masterstroke were it not for the eligibility question hanging over Goodluck Jonathan in contesting the 2023 Presidential Election.

Apart from the morality of becoming the major obstacle to the South East aspiration (ordinarily, the South East is counting on the solid support of the South South which they gave their all) there are serious legal issues surrounding the qualification or rather the eligibility of Jonathan to contest the office of the President. He is however qualified to contest for any other office in the land, ranging from Councilor to Vice President.

The law in question is: “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (4th Alteration No 16) Act, 2017)”. This new constitutional amendment may have been contemplated following the rancor occasioned by the same Jonathan contesting the 2015 Presidential Election. Recall that the Northern segment of the country believed Jonathan was not qualified based on rotation of presidential power between North and South Nigeria and power ought to have shifted North in that season. There was also a gentlemanly agreement, which was reached with him (Jonathan) to go for only one term before he contested the 2011 Presidential Election. He reneged to inspire a groundswell of the behemoth opposition – the APC – that swept him from power.

In law, express mention of one thing is said to be an express exclusion of another. The constitutional amendment assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari on 4th June, 2018, does not permit former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to contest in 2023 unless repealed. The extant section barring Jonathan states in its explanatory note…” The act alters the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to disqualify a person who was sworn in as President or Governor to complete the term of an elected President or Governor from being elected to the same office for more than a single term.”

To give effect to the disqualification of any person who has been sworn-in to complete the term of a President or a Governor from contesting more than one term, sections 137 and 182 of the 1999 Constitution were amended to ensure the same.

Then the question: is Dr. Goodluck Jonathan qualified to contest the 2023 Presidential Election? Where does this leave off Jonathan in view of his speculated return in 2023? Going by the express provisions of the said amendment on tenure, Jonathan is not qualified unless this extant law, which is now deemed a constitutional provision, is repealed and set aside.

In the light of this constitutional provision barring Dr. Goodluck Jonathan from contesting in 2023, those prompting him to throw his hat into the ring are either ignorant of this law or are being mischievous. Yes, mischievous in the sense that they would want to ridicule the statesman and cause bad blood between the South East and the South South whose relationship has been waxing cozy since the present dispensation.

In the light of this too, Dr. Jonathan should be advised to be guided by the quoted law and distance himself from the whispering clamor for his return in 2023. As alluring as it may appear, he should know that those who spearheaded that new law are the same vanguard now asking him to contest.

As a patriot and statesman who handed over power when he had reasons not to, rightly or wrongly, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan should help the rotation of presidential power to the South East. He ought to be in the vanguard for Nigerian President of South East extraction in reciprocation of their unalloyed support for the Jonathan Presidency. Even yours sincerely is a Jonathanian and was in the trenches for him in 2015. One good turn, they say, deserves another.

Dr. Law Mefor, a Forensic/Social Psychologist and Journalist