Forfeited Funds: Just Apologise And Step Down From Presidential Race, PDP Tells Tinubu

Following the disclosure that All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, forfeited funds to the United States government, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked him to step down from the presidential race.

Naija News reports that the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, stated this while speaking at a media briefing in Abuja on Sunday.

He was reacting to the release of certified true copies of a settlement order issued by a US court domiciled in the Northern District of Illinois regarding forfeiture of funds in some bank accounts to the tune of $460,000 linked to the former Governor of Lagos State.

Reacting to the development, the chief spokesman  of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, had denied the claims that the forfeited funds were linked to drug dealings and money laundering.

The Minister of State for Labor and Employment, however, said the funds forfeited by Tinubu to the US government were tax deductions and not proceeds of illicit drugs.

Speaking at the press conference on Sunday, Ologunagba said the forfeiture of funds by Tinubu to the US government shows that he committed infractions that disqualify him from running for president.

The PDP spokesman, however, called on the APC presidential candidate to  apologise to Nigerians for the issue and withdraw from the presidential race immediately.

He said: “What Nigerians expect of Asiwaju Tinubu at this moment is to withdraw from the presidential race and apologise to the nation.

“The APC must come to terms that it is not in the presidential race and that it has no legitimate candidate at all levels in the 2023 general election as pronounced by the federal high court.

“The PDP, therefore, reminds Nigerians that any vote for the APC at the presidential, governorship, national and state assembly elections are wasted votes that will not count at the end of the day.

“The PDP calls on INEC not to succumb to the blackmail of the APC but to be focused and carry out its duties in accordance with the constitution and the electoral act so as the engender confidence in the citizens with respect to the integrity of those seeking public office in our country.

“It is instructive to note that trafficking in narcotics is an international crime to which all nations are obliged and mandated to apprehend, prosecute and enforce any judgment or court order imposed on offender.

“Nigeria, being a signatory to the international convention on trafficking in narcotics, is obliged to enforce any order or judgment imposed on any offender by a competent court anywhere in the world.”

Ologunagba also said Tinubu is avoiding media debates because he doesn’t want to answer questions on the forfeited funds and other allegations against him.

He said: “Nigerians now know that the APC presidential campaign announcement that its presidential candidate will not participate in media debates is to prevent Nigerians from seeking answers from asiwaju Tinubu with respect to the criminal forfeiture judgment as well as other burning issues to which Nigerians are entitled to know.

“Of course, our nation cannot afford the embarrassment, shame, national indignity and stigma associated with narcotics all over the world especially in the exalted office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Nigeria cannot handle the massive negative collateral damage such will have on our national image, the economy, as well as on the businesses and legitimate endeavours of hardworking Nigerians.”