Claims that the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, criminally dealt drugs in the United States of America and was subjected to a legal trial, as a result, have been effectively dismissed and neutralized by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in its response to a suit filed by the opposition PDP at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Here are some of the key points contained in the submission which, ultimately, deals a deadly blow to the petitions against Tinubu’s fitness to qualify in the presidential race given that they were built on the now-dismissed insinuations that he was involved in a crime and was convicted by a foreign entity.
Civil forfeiture does not translate to criminal indictment
The NDLEA posited that “the suit (brought against Tinubu in the United States of America) was not a criminal indictment or charge. That the standard of proof in civil forfeiture is based on the balance of probabilities. That the standard of proof in a criminal indictment, charges and proceedings is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That the burden of proof in criminal procedure is much higher than that of civil procedure.”
This reinforces the fact previously established by legal experts that the civil forfeiture case involving Tinubu in the United States of America over three decades ago does not suffice as evidence of wrongdoing. On the contrary, the fact that Tinubu was able to recover the majority of the sum restricted by the government without ever standing trial for any criminal charge proved his innocence and the inadequacy of the probability game played by his accusers.
Tinubu has no record of crime in the radar and database of the NDLEA
Contrary to fake reports peddled by propagandists aligned with the Labour Party on social media, the NDLEA clarified that “the NDLEA has a healthy relationship with the government of the United States of America, the name of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu by whatever acronyms or combination of names has never featured in the exchanges we had with the USA.”
“Tinubu has also not featured in the radar and database of the agency as a person arrested, investigated, or prosecuted in connection with drug or other related offences.”
Legal challenge seeking Tinubu’s disqualification based on frivolous drug claims is baseless
The NDLEA described the petition by the PDP, and by extension the Labour Party, based on alleged criminal involvement in drugs trade and trafficking as “dead and legally unsustainable case that should be dismissed with substantial cost.”
Simply put, such a suit is a waste of the court’s time.