Tinubu’s US Records: Yoruba Ronu Challenges Obasanjo, Abdulsalami, Anyaoku To Break Silence
The Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum has called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku and other elder statesmen to speak out over unresolved questions surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s past records linked to an ongoing legal case in the United States.
In a statement on Sunday in Abuja by its President, Chief Akin Malaolu, the group said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, had in court filings referred to records concerning a criminal investigation and that the group claims the investigation involved President Tinubu.
Malaolu said the group was not pronouncing the President guilty.
“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,” he said, adding that questions arising from a documented investigation by a foreign law-enforcement agency go to issues of transparency, integrity and international standing.
The forum questioned the role of the Obasanjo administration when Tinubu served as Governor of Lagos State, asking whether the Federal Government at the time did everything within its powers to establish the facts.
It also linked Obasanjo’s silence to speculations about support for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, saying it “inevitably raises questions about whether political considerations are being allowed to compete with principle.”
The group also mentioned Prof. Wole Soyinka, former President Goodluck Jonathan and others, asking why they had not called for the records being litigated over in American courts to be brought into the open to the fullest extent permitted by law.
“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,” Malaolu stated.
The forum urged President Tinubu to support the fullest lawful disclosure of the relevant records.
It added 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.”
“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 group said.
