- #BlackHistoryMonth
His media social media handlers have in the last two weeks made it a duty to use a sophisticated software on Facebook to delete every smear or uncomplimentary narrative on Tinubu.
This move is sequel to a piece written in the US based Daily Beast titled ” Nigeria’s new leader’s link to heroine cartel”
Tinubu, the major financier of President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari has dirt that dates back to his days in the state of Illinois in the United State linking him to sundry drug cartels.
The Beast had reported “But 20 years ago Tinubu had to forfeit nearly half a million dollars to the U.S. Treasury Department after being named as an accomplice in a white heroin-trafficking and money-laundering ring that stretched from West Africa to the U.S. Midwest. A recent gauzy Financial Times profile of him, for instance, neglected to mention that two decades ago Tinubu was identified as a bagman for two Nigerian heroin movers who operated out of Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. They were Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele, Akande’s nephew, who was exposed to law enforcement after selling white heroin first to Lee Andrew Edwards, another dealer later jailed for trying to murder a federal agent, and then to an undercover cop.”
Read related: How The ’84 Buhari Govt Allegedly Tried To Smuggle Umaru Dikko In A Suitcase
Part of the judgement said ” 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…..
Former Osun state Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola once said of Tinubu ” Everything about Bola Tinubu is fake; his name is fake; his mother is fake; his place of birth is fake. For the sake of what he stands to gain, he abandoned his parents in Iragbiji in Osun State. There is a mark on his body with which one can trace his ancestry to Osun State
Checks reveal that a document, signed by a former United States Government Narcotics Attache in its embassy in Nigeria, Andre W. Kellum, said Tinubu operated an organisation that distributed cocaine.
Kellum said that though Tinubu was not subjected to criminal prosecution, the fact that he acceded to forfeiting funds to the United States Government was on its own a conviction.
Tinubu had admitted in court papers that he was involved in laundering proceeds of drug trafficking in the United States of America and the proceeds of such illicit drugs or money laundered in the sun of 460,000 US dollars be forfeited to the United States Government.
But Tinubu had feebly fought back. According to a statement from his media handlers “The unfolding smear campaign against former Lagos governor and leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, is no surprise. It had been in the works for years since the Jonathan-led government realized that Tinubu commanded a powerful political followership. The successful merger and birth of the APC posed the most potent threat to the PDP and Tinubu an architect of the merger has become a marked man”
Recently his media team started spreading a piece of news item that claims the US government has cleared Tinubu of any wrong doing in that country. This, in their calculation, would put to rest the narrative that has been virile for a while that Tinubu had drug issues in the US. The Daily beast piece threw gasoline in the fire.
Checks reveal that what they claim was a clearance , is 12 year old letter written to Ex IGP, Tafa Balogun by a Legal attache at the US Embassy.
The IGP, who was later indicted for fraud by the EFCC had written the Embassy asking for checks by the FBI on the Tinubu. Then the FBI’s checks returned negative because Tinubu was never arrested or convicted in the US of any crime. But he an illinois court ordered him to forfeit $460,000 believed to be drug proceeds because he could not explain the source.
The letter signed by the Legal Attache in the Consulate, Michael H. Bonner says: “Our sincerest greetings to you and all of the law enforcement personnel in the Nigeria Police Force, whose continued assistance is very much appreciated. In relation to your letter, dated February 3, 2003, reference number SR. 3000/IGPSEC/ABJ/VOL. 24/287, regarding Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a records check of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Crime Information Centre (NCIC) was conducted.
“The results of the checks were negative for any criminal arrest records, wants, or warrants for Bola Ahmed Tinubu (DOB 29 March 1952). For information of your department, NCIC is a very centralised information centre that maintains the records of every criminal arrest and conviction within the United States and its territories.”
But the Daily Beast had done an expose on Tinubu, named his accomplices, including his wife, Oluremi.
According to The Beast “General Muhammed Buhari’s political partner is a former bagman for two heroin traffickers. But that’s just business as usual in Nigeria.”“Nigeria’s election last month was celebrated as an unlikely victory for democracy in an African country with a tenuous record of free and fair representation.”But the man most responsible for midwifing General Muhammed Buhari’s ballot triumph over current President Goodluck Jonathan has a spotty CV. Former Lagos provincial governor Bola Tinubu, affectionately nicknamed the Jagaban, is today seen as a shrewd if not “deeply Machiavellian” Svengali in Nigeria’s politics as well as the architect of a hugely successful anti-corruption platform.”
The Beast continued “But 20 years ago he had to forfeit nearly half a million dollars to the U.S. Treasury Department after being named as an accomplice in a white heroin-trafficking and money-laundering ring that stretched from West Africa to the U.S. Midwest.A recent gauzy Financial Times profile of him, for instance, neglected to mention that two decades ago Tinubu was identified as a bagman for two Nigerian heroin movers who operated out of Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. They were Adegboyega Mueez Akande and Abiodun Agbele, Akande’s nephew, who was exposed to law enforcement after selling white heroin first to Lee Andrew Edwards, another dealer later jailed for trying to murder a federal agent, and then to an undercover cop.”
“In a 1993 court docket from the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois, which The Daily Beast obtained from Sahara Reporters, a Nigeria-focused news outlet, IRS Special Agent Kevin Moss said that Akande had run the white heroin ring in the late 1980s until 1990, when he handed off the U.S arm of the business to his nephew, who had arrived in 1988.“Akande then returned to Nigeria but continued to oversee the operation from abroad with the help of others at home and in the United States, including his relatives. One of the individuals identified in his cartel by Moss was Tinubu, then a Chicago State University-educated accountant working as a treasurer for Mobil Oil Nigeria Ltd, a subsidiary of energy giant Mobil Oil, which was still a few years shy of its famous merger with Exxon in 1999.”
“Tinubu gave differing accounts for his wealth to Moss. In one phone call from Nigeria, shortly after the U.S. Treasury seized his money, he admitted to wiring $100,000 to Akande’s Houston bank account and to receiving the $80,000 from Akande into his First Heritage account. Tinubu also said that apart from one other account in Fairfax, Virginia, he had no other money stashed in U.S. banks.”
“Except that there were other accounts. Citibank has a worldwide banking division known as Citibank International where Tinubu stashed an additional $550,000. He also controlled an entity called Compass Finance and Investments Company Ltd., of which Akande and Agbele were directors.”
“There’s no evidence that Tinubu was ever indicted for any crime. He eventually settled with the district court, turning over $460,000 of the seized $1.4 million, with the remainder released back to him. The Beast tried repeatedly to contact Marsha McClellan, the U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, but was unsuccessful.”
The article further refers to a recent open letter written by Buruji Kashamu, a Nigerian politician also accused of drug dealing in the US, praising Tinubu and calling him his role model.
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:
- This is a FORFEITURE action under 21 U.S.C , ss88 and 18, ss 981…..
- 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.
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