By Obinna Ejianya (9News Nigeria – Melbourne, Australia)
Critics of former Vice President, Waziri Atiku Abubakar have been bewildered by his unrelenting resolve to see that President Tinubu’s presidency is annulled.
While a majority of Nigerians may believe that Atiku is on a wild goose chase, some others share the school of thought that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar must be in the purview of some dark secrets about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that others did not know about.
9News Nigeria continued its investigation into the reason behind Atiku’s unrelenting determination to see to the annulment of the INEC’s February 25 2023 presidential election result that declared Bola Tinubu as the winner.
Facts were revealed about the reasons behind Atiku’s tenacious willpower and ambition to remove Tinubu from power and probably take over. It’s ostensibly obvious that Atiku believes Tinubu does not qualify to sit in the highest political position in Nigeria, alleging his lack of integrity and dark past.
In other to unravel some hidden facts, 9News Nigeria traced the matter to the beginning of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s pally with the legal corridors and the involvement of Atiku in the whole process both in open and secret places.
In 1999, late legal luminary and human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), filed a court order to compel security operatives to investigate criminal allegations against Bola Tinubu, who was the governor of Lagos State at the time.
In the court documents, Fawehinmi had filed an “Order of Mandamus,” praying the court to compel security operatives to investigate the allegations against Tinubu who had earlier been cleared by the Lagos House of Assembly.
Tinubu had claimed to have lost his certificates in his filings with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Fawehinmi requested the court to compel security operatives to investigate these allegations. The court documents stated that Tinubu had made false statements on oath and false declarations under oath.
The court ruled that Tinubu, as a sitting governor, could not be tried due to his immunity from prosecution. The Appeal Court upheld this decision. However, Fawehinmi pursued the case to the Supreme Court, which ruled that Tinubu could be investigated by the police and tried after his tenure, despite his immunity.
Atiku was the Vice President when Gani Faweihmi submitted a petition against Bola Tinubu following a Supreme Court ruling that though Tinubu as then Governor of Lagos State enjoyed immunity from prosecution, he could be investigated by the police over the allegation and tried after his tenure.
The petition sought the intervention of the Federal Government to investigate allegations that bordered around: Legal Issues Surrounding Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s identity, the Authenticity of his educational qualifications and his Criminal record in the USA.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has to be involved in such an investigation that could involve Interpol and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Gani Fawehinmi’s numerous petitions were meant to be sent to the President, Olusegun Obasanjo, but the matter was diverted to the office of the Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar to handle.
The office of the Vice President then sent orders to the Inspector General of Police to investigate the issues raised in the allegation which included Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s identity as a descendant of the Tinubu family, the Authenticity of his educational qualifications and his Criminal record in the USA.
There were also allegations that Bola Tinubu had served prison terms in the USA which was why he was out of the public eye for 5 years.
The Inspector General of Police then was IGP Musiliu Smith who gave instruction to the AIG controlling Lagos state and other high-ranking officers were involved in the investigation.
Reports of the investigation with findings, both from international and local were submitted to the IGP and Vice President Atiku, but somehow the case was turned down after several meetings between the investigating officers and Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In the course of the investigation against Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Atiku became very much aware of every detail of the allegation levelled against Tinubu,
Gani Fawehinmi lost the case against Tinubu then but Vice President Atiku Abubakar was not satisfied with the outcome of the matter citing heaps of evidence against the accused.
Gani Fawehinmi’s persistence to further the case was unsuccessful due to Tinubu’s immunity as governor at the time, he could not be tried. The Supreme Court ruled that he could be investigated by the police and tried after leaving office.
Knowing that the matter was among party candidates and within the Lagos State political space, Atiku didn’t have reason to interfere with the case any further.
AIG Rilwan Akiolu who later became the Oba of Lagos during Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s tenure as Lagos State governor was forced to retire from the police force by the Obasanjo-Atiku administration. The event that Oba Akiolu later accused Atiku Abubakar of being the mastermind of his induced retirement.
By Obinna Ejianya (9News Nigeria – Melbourne, Australia)
