The Presidency has been lampooned by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over its reaction to fresh talks about President Bola Tinubu’s alleged connections to a decades-old narcotics case in the United States, with the administration being accused of trying to silence scrutiny of the issue.
In a statement on Thursday, Atiku described a recent statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on behalf of Tinubu in response to an earlier call-out on the case as “reckless and shameful”.
Atiku said the claim by the Presidency that the case of narcotics trafficking against the President had “long been settled” amounted to an admission that Tinubu was investigated in connection with narcotics trafficking.
The statement said: “We are shocked that the Presidency would say that the charges of narcotics trafficking against Tinubu have ‘long been settled’ and rendered moot by an electoral mandate.
He reportedly warned that immunity does not stop a new probe.
“The argument essentially concedes that Tinubu was investigated for narcotics trafficking but argues that his present position as President immunises him, and clears the records of his links to the heroin scandal,” Atiku said in the statement from his media office.
The ADC 2027 presidential candidate also questioned the Presidency’s opposition to the renewed public interest in the case.
Citing a Yoruba proverb, Atiku said: “As the Yoruba adage goes: an aged bowl of pounded yam can still steam.
He challenged Onanuga and the President’s media team to explain what he described as moves to stop further scrutiny of Tinubu’s records in the United States.
“If the case against their principal is really time-barred, why are they so panicky about any attempt to revisit it? “Why is President Tinubu blocking every move to unravel what is in his FBI/DOJ US files?” he asked.
Atiku argued that the Office of the President required the highest level of integrity and that allegations surrounding its occupant could harm Nigeria’s international reputation.
“The Office of the President is not just a political job. It is an office that reflects the soul of the society it governs. “The presence of an alleged ex-trafficker in that office is a huge reputational blow to Nigeria’s image and to all Nigerians on the world stage,” he said.
The ex-VP further held that criminal investigations could be reopened where fresh circumstances warranted such action.
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“The Presidency’s media team should be reminded that criminal justice issues are never thrown out completely. They can be revisited at any material time especially when new circumstances arise,” he said.
Atiku said there had been a change of leadership in the United States between 2023 and 2027, adding that it was the duty of law enforcement agencies to determine whether the issue should be revisited.
He said, “Revisiting the narcotics case against a sitting president is not an affront to the intelligence of Nigerians. Instead, it is a bold effort to keep the wheel of justice turning.”
He called on Tinubu to cooperate with any fresh review of the matter if he had nothing to hide.
“If President Tinubu has no skeletons in his closet regarding his involvement in the US narcotics scandal, he should allow the case to be re-opened instead of resorting to his usual tactics of thwarting disclosure through frivolous appeals in court or assigning his media team the task of writing long, empty essays aimed at rewriting history for his personal benefit,” Atiku said.