Tinubu’s FBI Files: Group accuses U.S of political harassment, witch-hunting of Nigerian president
A group under the auspices of the Concerned Nigerian Citizens for Justice and Sovereignty has called on foreign entities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), not to witch-hunt President Bola Tinubu.
The group led by Kailani Muhammad, the director-general of the Confederation of All Progressives Congress Support Groups, made the call at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
“We, the Concerned Nigerian Citizens for Justice and Sovereignty, categorically reject the ongoing political harassment targeting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu under the guise of resurrected U.S. ‘probe reports’.
“The sudden rush by foreign entities, including the FBI and its partners, to release decades-old documents smirks of a politically engineered witch-hunt.
“This is not the first time President Tinubu has been the subject of such accusations, yet no court of law has found him guilty of wrongdoing,” Mr Muhammad said.
He pointed out that the timing of the “orchestrated media frenzy fuelled by politically biased actors raises serious questions about foreign interference and the weaponisation of legal institutions to interfere in Nigeria’s domestic politics.”
He added, “The 2023 presidential election was free, fair, and conclusive. Nigerians spoke through the ballot.”
Mr Muhammad said the continuous attempt to criminalise Mr Tinubu with recycled allegations from a distant past is unacceptable.
He said the continued targeting of the Nigerian president could be interpreted as an affront to the country’s democracy and the dignity of its people.
Last April, a federal judge in the United States authorised the Central Intelligence Agency to ignore requests for files on Mr Tinubu, saying there was no evidence the organisation collected any intelligence on the Nigerian leader.
Similarly, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington D.C. said the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration had already released documents in their possession but said they could look further to see if they have anything left that would be in public interest in their archives.
The decision, which should relieve the Nigerian leader, followed years of litigation for Mr Tinubu’s records by the duo, with the FBI and other U.S. agencies disclosing what they had in their possession in a series of document dumps between 2023 and 2024.
The FBI and sister agencies have already released files from their archives that showed Mr Tinubu was investigated for ties to the narcotics business in the 1990s. The probe led to Mr Tinubu’s forfeiture of $460,000 in 1993, a scandal that dominated the 2023 presidential elections in Nigeria.
