Sahara News
Breaking News in Nigeria and World wide

Obi Linked Tinubu With Drug Trafficking, ask Court To Disqualify him

Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, submitted his petition on Tuesday to contest the 25 February election victory of Bola Tinubu of the APC.

Tinubu was named “President-elect” after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared him the winner of the election.

Obi claimed in his petition to the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja that the election was marked by a number of irregularities, including the APC candidate’s disqualification.

He claims that Tinubu’s decision to forfeit his funds to the US government over a drug trafficking claim indicates that the former governor of Lagos State committed violations that should prevent him from running for office in Nigeria.

SaharaReporters had previously reported that US court documents connected Tinubu to a drug trafficking case and that he eventually forfeited $460,000 to the US government.

The newspaper obtained original copies of the judgment in the United States versus Bola Ahmed Tinubu case on February 18, 2009, in which the “President-elect” was accused of massive drug trafficking and money laundering with other defendants.

This decision is directly related to the SaharaReporters report from September 16, 2008, How US Federal Agents Successfully Linked Tinubu to Drug Trafficking Ring in Chicago, as well as other documents related to that report.

“Beginning as early as 1998, Adegboyega Mueez Akande, with others, operated an organization that distributed white heroin, a controlled substance under Title 21 of the United States Code,” stated the US in its verified complaint of forfeiture, which was filed by its attorney, Michael J. Shepard, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

ALSO READ:  Buhari is responsible for illegal weapons and fighters entering Nigeria from Russia and Ukraine.

“This distribution operation was carried out on a large scale and generated substantial profits.”

“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 forfeited to the United States,” the court stated.

Bola Tinubu ultimately chose a stipulated settlement with the US government after lengthy litigation in which Tinubu claimed that the funds belonged to him, his wife, Oluremi Tinubu, and his surrogate mother, Alhaja Mogaji.

In accordance with the September 15, 1993 settlement order: Hon. The amount of $460,000 that Bola Tinubu held in the First Heritage Bank account was ordered to be forfeited to the government of the United States by Judge John A. Nordberg.

Obi supported this claim in his petition by arguing that Tinubu did not qualify to run for office at the time of the election.

“The Petitioners state that the Grounds on which the Petition is based are as follows,” read the court documents. At the time of the election, the second respondent lacked the necessary qualifications to run for office.

ALSO READ:  BREAKING: Bomb explosion kill 13, injure 179 people with 46 in critical condition

“Due to corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of more than one Constituency, the election of the 2nd Respondent was invalid.”

“The Petitioners will argue at the trial that the 3rd Respondent knowingly allowed himself to be nominated as the Vice Presidential Candidate while he was still a Senatorial Candidate for the Borno Central Constituency rendered invalid the purported sponsorship of the 2nd and 3rd Respondents by the 4th Respondent.” The Petitioners will also argue that the allegedly recorded votes for the 2nd Respondent in the contested presidential election were/are wasted votes and should be ignored for this reason.

“The Petitioners further argue that the Second Respondent was also unqualified at the time of the election because he was fined $460,000.00 (Four Hundred and Sixty Thousand United States Dollars) by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, for an offense involving dishonesty, namely narcotics trafficking, in Case No: Between: 93C 4483

Judge John A. Nordberg stated in the Decree of Forfeiture that Case No. 93C 4483 was ordered on page 3 on October 4, 1993, as follows:

“ORDERED that the funds in Bola Tinubu’s account 263226700 in the amount of $460,000 represent the proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were involved in financial transactions in violation of 18 U.S.C. $$1956 and 1957, and that these funds are forfeited to the United States pursuant to 21 U.S.C. $ 381(a)(6) and 18 U.S.C. $982;” In addition, it is ORDERED that First Heritage Bank will issue a $460,000 check to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and dispose of these funds in accordance with the law;

ALSO READ:  "His Party Brought Woes To Nigeria"—Obaseki's Ex-Aide Attacks Pastor Bakare For Praising Tinubu.

“It is further ORDERED that the Court shall retain jurisdiction over this action for the purpose of implementing and enforcing the terms of this Decree of Forfeiture.”

“The following orders were issued in accordance with paragraph 5 of the “Stipulations and Compromise Settlement of Claims to the Funds Held by Heritage Bank and CitiBank” filed by the parties: “‘ The parties also agree that the United States will forfeit and dispose of $460,000 from Bola Tinubu’s Heritage bank defendant account in accordance with the law. K.O. Tinubu will get the funds that are still in the account.’

“The Candidates thusly argue and will depend on guaranteed duplicates of the accompanying archives, in particular: a) Verified Complaint for Forfeiture, submitted by United States Attorney Michael J. Shepard and signed by Assistant United States Attorney Marsha A. McClellan

Obi added that Kashim Shettima, Tinubu’s running mate in the February presidential election, was nominated for both the Borno Central senatorial and vice-presidential positions in the same election cycle.

Source

Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.

error: Content is protected !!