The Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has launched legal actions to disqualify Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC’s presidential candidate, due to his conviction and sentence for drug trafficking by a court of competent jurisdiction in the United States.
But the APC PCC promptly rebutted the PDP, claiming that the party was not only a copycat but also lacked originality.
However, the PDP’s action is a response to the APC, which on January 20 petitioned the courts to have Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP disqualified from the presidential election due to what it referred to as the “#Atiku-Gate” and “Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV,” scandal.
The PDP argued yesterday that Tinubu was ineligible to run in any election because he had been found guilty of a crime by a court with authority in the United States of America.
Kola Ologbondiyan, the Campaign’s spokesperson, made this statement during a press conference yesterday in Abuja.
According to Ologbondiyan, Tinubu’s nomination is invalid because of a court ruling in Chicago that caused him to lose $460,000 in money that was from the sale and distribution of drugs.
He said: “Nigerians are not unaware of the criminal matter concerning the Presidential Candidate of the All-Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in respect of his criminal conviction and sentencing by a court of competent jurisdiction in the United States over a criminal case of trafficking in narcotics for which Tinubu forfeited the sum of $460,000 to the state.
“From the declaration of the court and the sentencing, it is clear that Asiwaju Tinubu was summarily convicted by the court, he took no step to challenge the judgment but acceded to the forfeiture of the $460,000 found to be the proceeds of narcotics trafficking.”
The PDP campaign spokesperson noted that it is a well-known fact that drug trafficking is an international offense for which all countries are required by international treaties and laws to apprehend offenders, bring them to justice, and carry out any judgments rendered against them anywhere in the world, as well as the consequences of such judgments.
He further said: “Having been convicted and having acceded to be guilty as charged by way of forfeiture of the $460,000, Nigeria is a signatory to International Convention is mandatorily obligated to execute the consequential effect of that conviction by virtue of Section 137 (1) (d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“For clarity, Section 137 (1) (d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that:(1) A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if….(d)
“He is under a sentence of death imposed by any competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria or a sentence of imprisonment or fine for any offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called) or for any other offence, imposed on him by any court or tribunal or substituted by a competent authority for any other sentence imposed on him by such a court or tribunal.”
Additionally, Ologbondiyan disclosed that the PDP has petitioned the courts to request Tinubu’s disqualification.
He said: “Our Campaign has proceeded to the court demanding the court to: Declare Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Presidential Candidate of the APC, having been convicted, as ineligible to contest the Presidential election by virtue of section 137 (1) (d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“Compel the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately delist Asiwaju Tinubu as Presidential candidate of the APC or any other political party for that matter and expunge his name from all materials and documents related to the 2023 Presidential election.”
He claims that the PDP campaign has also requested an expedited hearing in an effort to protect the country from an imminent calamity.
He said: “This case is in the interest of the nation as our laws do not permit a convict, let alone an individual convicted on account of the international crime of trafficking in narcotic, to stand election at any level. Nigeria cannot afford the embarrassment of having a convict hold office at any level against our laws.”
In response to the PDP’s counterattacks, Festus Keyamo, the APC’s chief spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that the main opposition party lacks creativity.
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His words: “Why did they wait all these months until we filed before they are now rushing to court? I challenged them more than two months ago, yet they did nothing.
‘’It shows a team that is lacking in originality, lacking in ideas and lacking in vision. It is just an attempt to create a counter-suit to our own.
Mr. Bayo Onanuga, director of media and publicity for the APC PCC, also reacted and reiterated his statements from January 18, 2023, in which he decried the PDP’s “shameless skirting of issues” by citing the attack as a justification.
He pressed Atiku to respond to questions about whether he hired Michael Achimugu, a whistleblower who took an oath, whether he made a scandalous statement about how he and former President Olusegun Obasanjo set up SPVs like Marine Float to steal public funds, and whether the voice on the taped message was Atiku’s.