The United States government has said, the All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential candidate in the coming General elections in Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was neither involved nor convicted for criminal drug dealing in the US, falsifying reports amplified by his political opponents who are recycling an unsuccessful suit in which the former Lagos Governor was cleared of all charges.
The US offered the clarification while responding to a petition filed sometime, seeking details about the failed suit brought against Tinubu over unsubstantiated allegations of drug dealing and purported questionable financial transactions in the country.
In its response signed by Micheal H. Bonner, the Legal Officer of the Consulate Office in Nigeria, the US said “a records check of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Crime Information Centre (NCIC) was conducted” and “the results of the checks were negative for any criminal arrest records, wants, or warrants for Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
The response, which re-emphasized the acquittal of Tinubu of all charges by the court, poured cold water on the propagandist efforts of his political opponents who are portraying old court papers, which merely detailed the unfounded and never substantiated allegations, as new and recent facts.
According to a legal expert who described the situation as “a misleading attempt to bend the facts of a simple legal matter in order to gain a political advantage.
“Tinubu has committed no crime. He is not guilty of anything. That is the position of the law and the verdict of the court and other investigative bodies after examining the allegations.
“The suit papers some are bandying around are irrelevant because they said things that were never proven. It is nothing but an attempt to exploit the public’s ignorance of legal matters and dent the image of a political opponent”, he said.
It would be recalled that individuals and social media accounts re-circulating the dated and already publicly available documents of the suit bearing the unsubstantiated allegations revealed that they were all surrogates of the opposition parties challenging what many perceive to be Tinubu’s procession to the presidency based on his established popularity and broad acceptance.