Adeleye Kunle Reports
These are matters that are still under investigation and I cannot tell you when a case would be taken to court.
As the politics of 2023 general election rises daily, two presidential candidates, Tinubu and Kwankwaso, who are among the top four presidential candidates, that include Atiku and Peter Obi, have some alleged corruption cases that is been investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
TrackNews reports that Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Labour Party presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, APC presidential candidate and Kwankwaso, NNPP presidential candidate are the top contenders who will be the talk of the 2023 general election come September when the Independent National Electoral Commission will lift the ban on political campaign.
However, some alleged corruption cases are still dangling around Tinubu, the All Progressive Congress presidential candidate and Rabiu Kwankwaso, the New Nigeria Progressive Party presidential candidate.
Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, appeared at the EFCC office last October to answer questions on an alleged corruption case to the tune of N10 billion.
TrackNews reported that Mr Kwankwaso’s invitation was connected to a petition by some retired employees of the Kano State Government to the EFCC that the former governor mismanaged pension remittances to the tune of N10 billion between 2011 and 2015, which he diverted to fund a housing project for his cronies.
Sources in the EFCC also told Premium Times that the investigation is still on and the possibility of initiating a court action in 2022 cannot be ruled out.
Mr Kwankwaso, a former Minister of Defence, is currently running for president under the New Nigeria People’s Party.
Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, is the current All Progressive Congress presidential candidate ahead of the 2023 general election.
The EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, in an interview with This Day newspaper last June said the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu, is under investigation over assets declaration.
Mr Tinubu’s source of wealth has been the subject of controversy with many Nigerians calling for his investigation, especially, social media users.
Although the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, denied any plan to investigate Mr Tinubu, Premium Times reported that a copy of a letter from the EFCC to the Code of Conduct Bureau demanding copies of Mr Tinubu’s asset disclosure form had circulated on social media.
According to The Peoples Gazette, an online news medium that broke the news, the letter dated 6 November 2020, was signed by the then Lagos zonal head, Mr. Bawa, who is now the Chairman of the EFCC.
Mr Tinubu has been accused of having an interest in Alpha Beta Consulting and diverting Lagos State cash through the company.
Chief Bode George, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, Newsonline reported, had alleged that Tinubu is the owner of Alpha Beta firm in Lagos, which is in charge of revenue collection in the state.
In a 40-page document submitted to a Lagos high court in 2020, Dapo Apara, a former managing director of the company, accused Mr Tinubu and Akin Doherty, a former commissioner in Lagos, of money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, and several other corrupt practices.
Deji Adeyanju, the convener of Concerned Nigerians, on 25 October, 2019, had also petitioned the EFCC to probe Mr Tinubu about the source of money delivered in bullion vans to his Ikoyi home on the eve of the 2019 presidential election.
Speaking on when the corruption cases of the former governors would be taking to court, Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC Spokesman told Premium Times, “These are matters that are still under investigation and I cannot tell you when a case would be taken to court.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recorded convictions against some former governors, among whom were the most recently pardoned and released Jolly Nyame, former governor of Taraba and Joshua Dariye, former governor of Plateau.
