The All Progressives Congress has stated why the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, forfeited the sum of $460,000 to the United States Government over 29 years ago
According to The PUNCH, the Party while defending its candidate in the 2023 presidential election refuted the claim that Tinubu was convicted by the US as a result of the forfeiture.
In its explanation, the APC stated that the funds in the said accounts, which were domiciled in two commercial banks, were subject to a “civil forfeiture proceeding” in Case No: 93C4483.
Defending its candidate before the Presidential Election Petition Court, sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, the APC stated, “The said decision is not against the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu) but against the funds in the various account opened in the name of Bola Tinubu with First Heritage Bank and City Bank N.A.
“The compromise terms that led to the forfeiture were preceded by express admission on record that the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu) did not admit the commission of any drug, drug-related or illicit conduct of dishonesty or fraud that fits into any of the grounds of disqualification to contest for the office of president of Nigeria at the February 25, 2023 general election.”
It further argued that the said forfeiture Tinubu made to the US government, having lasted a period of 29 years, was no longer a valid ground to challenge his eligibility to contest the presidential election.
Tinubu, in the presidential election, polled a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party who came a distant third.
Meanwhile, Obi had challenged the announcement of Tinubu as the winner of the election, on the grounds thay Tinubu’s forfeiture of his funds to the US government over a drug trafficking allegation was an indication that he engaged in infractions that were enough to disqualify him from contesting an election.
