A Yoruba leader, Akin Malaolu, has expressed concern over the silence of former Nigerian leaders, including Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and Abdulsalami Abubakar, amid controversy surrounding allegations about President Bola Tinubu’s past in the United States.
Malaolu stated this in a statement on Sunday.
The development comes amid renewed calls for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, to release records relating to Tinubu.
DAILY POST reports that a Washington-based lobbyist for former Nigerian Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, Karl Von Batten, has been at the forefront of calls for the release of the records.
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Speaking on the controversy, Malaolu said there was an urgent need for former Nigerian leaders and other prominent figures to speak on the matter.
According to him, Nigerians have the right to know the details of any records relating to Tinubu because, as President, he is not a private citizen.
“The President of Nigeria is not an ordinary private citizen. Questions arising from a documented criminal investigation by a foreign law-enforcement agency go directly to issues of transparency, integrity and the international standing of the Nigerian state.
“The question is therefore: why is there so much graveyard silence from those who have traditionally presented themselves as the conscience of the nation?
“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was President when Tinubu served as Governor of Lagos State.
“But this is not about Obasanjo alone. Where are Chief Emeka Anyaoku, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Professor Wole Soyinka, former President Goodluck Jonathan and the other respected Nigerians who have repeatedly spoken out when they believed that the country’s democracy, institutions or reputation were at stake?
“The time for silence is over. The time to act is now,” he stated.
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