OBJ, Abdulsalami, Anyaoku, others must break silence on Tinubu’s US probe — Yoruba Ronu

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President Tinubu

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By Omeiza Ajayi

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ABUJA: The Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum has called on Nigeria’s elder statesmen, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, and former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku, to end what it described as their “graveyard silence” over unresolved questions surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s past records, following developments in an ongoing legal battle in the United States.

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President of the Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum, Chief Akin Malaolu in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI had confirmed in court filings that its records concern a criminal investigation involving drug-trafficking offences and that Tinubu was the subject of that investigation.

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“This does not amount to a conviction, nor should anyone pretend that an investigation is proof of guilt. But it is unquestionably a matter that should concern every well-meaning Nigerian,” Malaolu said, adding that questions arising from a documented criminal investigation by a foreign law-enforcement agency go directly to issues of transparency, integrity and the international standing of the Nigerian state.

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The group noted that Obasanjo was President when Tinubu served as Governor of Lagos State, and questioned whether the Federal Government at the time did everything within its powers to properly establish the facts.

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It linked the former President’s continued silence to reports of his speculated support for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, stating that this “inevitably raises questions about whether political considerations are being allowed to compete with principle.”

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Malaolu also asked why General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Professor Wole Soyinka, former President Goodluck Jonathan and other respected Nigerians who have previously spoken out on the country’s democracy, institutions or reputation had not demanded that the truth surrounding the US investigations and the records being litigated over in American courts be brought into the open “to the fullest extent permitted by law.”

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“This is not a demand that anyone pronounce President Tinubu guilty. It is a demand for transparency, accountability and answers. If there is nothing in the records that implicates the President in wrongdoing, then full lawful disclosure should help put the matter to rest. If legitimate questions remain, Nigerians deserve an independent, credible and transparent process through which those questions can be answered. What is unacceptable is silence”, he added.

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The forum warned that the legal challenge in the United States should not be treated as another political controversy to be watched from the sidelines, insisting that Nigeria’s leaders of conscience have a responsibility to speak now while there is still time for citizens to understand the facts and determine the appropriate course of action.

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It cited the experiences of Venezuela and Panama as a reminder that international legal and geopolitical developments can move with extraordinary speed, stressing that “a stitch in time, they say, saves nine.”

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Malaolu asked whether Nigerians were now expected to assume that protecting America’s interests in withholding sensitive law-enforcement records should take precedence over the legitimate interest of Nigerians in knowing the truth about matters concerning their President, insisting that Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, has every right to demand accountability from anyone occupying its highest office.

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The group urged Tinubu to seize the opportunity to put the questions to rest by supporting the fullest lawful disclosure of the relevant records and providing Nigerians with clear answers, adding that should credible evidence ultimately establish that his continued occupancy of the Presidency is incompatible with the integrity required of that office, “the honourable course would be to resign and spare Nigeria further controversy and international embarrassment.”

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“Nigeria is bigger than Tinubu. Nigeria is bigger than Obasanjo. Nigeria is bigger than any individual, political party, ethnic group or political interest. The time for silence is over. The time to act is now. Nigerians deserve the truth. Nigeria deserves accountability. And Nigeria’s leaders of conscience must not wait until it is too late to speak”, the group stated.

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