Danladi Ahmed
The Democratic Front (TDF) has condemned the demand by Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Atiku Abubakar for President Bola Tinubu to provide explanations on a civil forfeiture incident that happened in the US 30 years ago.
In a statement by its Chairman Danjuma Muhammad and Secretary Wale Adedayo, the group advised Atiku to focus more on clearing his name on a pending petition before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on issues surrounding the illegal transfer of $40,000,000 in different trenches into accounts of his former wife, Ms Jennifer Douglas.
It said: “We are displeased by the former Vice President’s desperation to shift discussions in ongoing electioneering campaigns tp personality rather than issues of policies and convictions.
“The former Vice President’s recent pretences around the fuel subsidy issue created a false impression that he was desirous to promote issue-based discourse in the 2027 electioneering campaigns. But his misplaced and irresponsible request for President Tinubu’s explanations over a 30-year old historical incident on a financial forfeiture in the U S, has revealed his hidden intention to divert attention.
“The magnitude of energy and resources which the former Vice President is committing to the voyage of exhuming a civil forfeiture incident that was resolved three decades ago, shows that Atiku Abubakar has nothing new to bring to the front burner to convince the electorate ahead of the January 2027 elections.
“Furthermore, it insults public sensibility that a former public officer like Atiku Abubakar, whose personal history and record of service are heavily tainted by a plethora of unresolved corruption related scenarios, will make personal integrity the focal point of his campaign.
“To the best of our knowledge, President Tinubu was not in anyway, implicated in the US civil forfeiture incident, as the forfeited $460,000 was reported to be the total transferred from 10 different accounts that were not even confirmed to be directly owned or operated by the President.
“It is instructive to note that there is no aspect of the proceedings that indicted or criminalized President Tinubu over the issue. Rather, a declarative order was made by the Judge that the case was a civil forfeiture “in rem” meaning, the money was the subject of trial not the person. Then why should Atiku Abubakar demand for explanations on the matter from President Tinubu, who was, indeed, not the subject of trial ?”
The group insisted that former Vice President had a bigger issue that he needed to come clean on.
“The incident of Tinubu’s civil forfeiture of $460,000 in the United States 30 years ago, cannot be compared, in the scale of corruption scandals, with the American Senate sub-committee investigation into a suspicious transfer of $40m into US bank accounts linked to Ms Jennifer Douglas, the then wife of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar between 2000 and 2008.
“It is a matter of public record that former President Olusegun Obasanjo admitted that he prevented the attempt by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate Atiku on the matter because of its implications for the image of his administration and Nigeria.
“Till date, Nigerians are yet to get in-depth explanations from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on how such humongous amount of money was suspiciously transferred into his wife’s account by companies directly linked to him.
“We therefore call on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to come clean on the circumstances surrounding the American Senate sub-committee investigation into the illegal transfer of funds into his wife’s account.
“Nigerians deserve the right to hear details of the suspicious transfer of funds from their country between year 2000 and 2008, which attracted a Sub -Committee probe from the American Senate.
“We deem it constitutionally and morally incumbent on the ADC presidential candidate to come to equity with clean hands, before demanding explanations from President Tinubu on a US civil forfeiture incident,” it added.