A spokesman for the Atiku/PDP presidential campaign, Daniel Bwala on Thursday said Bola Ahmed Tinubu may be disqualified from contesting the 2023 presidential elections over his connection to a drug trafficking case in the United States.
Bwala made the comment during his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“I’m afraid that the conclusion of this case is that, from the eyes of the law . . . Bola may be disqualified from contesting if the matter goes to court,” Bwala said.
“Narcotics and money laundering, whether in Nigeria or the United States, is a criminal offence.”
Bwala was commenting on the controversy surrounding a document recently released by the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The document contained evidence of Tinubu’s alleged involvement in narcotics and money laundering about 30 years ago.
The matter, which ended in a settlement, led to Tinubu’s forfeiture of $460,000 in one of the accounts linked to the former governor of Lagos State.
Spokesperson for the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo on Wednesday argued that Tinubu was not indicted in the matter and had no case to answer.
‘Questionable character’
Bwala however argued that the issue at stake was a matter of character.
“For the Nigerian people, the source of the money is important, but there is still a cloud around drug related offences and drug related activity with somebody who wants to be the number one citizen of the country,” he said.
“Recently, there was a massive busting of cocaine in Nigeria. This idea of drugs and narcotics is a terrible case all over the world.
“And if someone has that questionable character and is elected as a President, what it means is that it will embolden people who are into those activities. That’s why the person has to come out clean.”