EFCC receives petition against Tinubu over bullion vans

A group of Nigerians led by activist, Deji Adeyanju, on Friday, submitted a petition against the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja.

The petition entitled ‘Petition to investigate the source of money conveyed in bullion vans to the home of Asiwaju  Ahmed Tinubu on the eve of 2019 presidential election’, submitted on behalf of the group, Concerned Nigerians and addressed to the EFCC acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu, was received at the reception of the antigraft agency’s headquarters at Jabi, Abuja, and duly stamped by the agency as received.

The petition was signed by Adeyanju and Ariyo-Dare Atoye of the NCDC and Adebayo Raphael of Free Nigeria Movement and dated October 25, 2019.

A c c o r d i n g t o t h e petitioners, the aim of the petition was for the EFCC to launch an investigation into the appearance of two bullion vans at Tinubu’s residence on the eve of the last presidential election.

The petitioners noted that the petition was written following Magu’s call for a petition on the presence of the bullion vans at the politician’s residence.

The petition reads in part: “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is empowered by law to prevent , i nvest i gate, prosecute and penalise economic and financial crimes and is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of other laws and regulations relating to economic and financial crimes.

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“It is on this basis that we write to petition the commission to launch an investigation into the appearance of bullion vans in the compound of a private citizen, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the eve of the 2019 presidential elections.

This subject matter is not new to you and several Nigerians have repeatedly drawn your attention to this. I have decided to take up the challenge after you called for a petition through your social media account on Twitter.

“The commission will recall that it was reported all over the news that bullion vans allegedly containing an undisclosed amount of cash were seen entering the home of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State on the eve of Nigerian presidential elections. Tinubu himself admitted this fact while responding to questions by journalists.”

The petitioners noted that Section 7 (1) (b) of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004 gives the commission the power to investigate properties of any person that appears to the commission that the person’s lifestyle and extent of the properties are not justified by his source of income.

“ To the best of our knowledge, Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a private citizen who ordinarily should not be seen with a convoy of bullion vans,” they said. The petition raised four questions which it said were begging answers: “What
are bullion vans doing in the house of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu?; who owns the content, believing to be cash in the bullion vans that were seen entering the house of Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the eve of Nigerian presidential election?; has
the commission, based on its core mandates, investigated the source of the bullion vans?; Is Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s house now a bank where bullion vans now take money to?”

The petitioners then called on the EFCC to urgently “swing into action and begin an investigation into the appearance of the bullion vans.”

T h e a n t i – c o r r u p t i o n commission, according to the petition, “has been very hard on members of the opposition, including detaining them for weeks on allegation of corruption and has now turned its focus on Yahoo Boys.” The petitioners submitted that as a nation, Nigerians could not have two separate rules for fighting corruption: “one for those opposed to the ruling party and another for supporters of the government.”

T h e y , h o w e v e r , commended the anti-graft agency for its continuous efforts “amidst political interference from vested interests” in ridding the country of corruption. They then urged the commission to properly investigate the petition and diligently prosecute the case to convince Nigerians of its willingness to fight corruption without minding
whose ox is gored.

“This case, if properly i n v e s t i g a t e d a n d prosecuted diligently will assure Nigerians of the commission’s willingness
to fight corruption that is devoid of party affiliation,” the petitioners said.

Tinubu’s spokesman, Tunde Rahman, did not pick his calls when Saturday Tribune tried getting his reaction Friday
evening. Between 7.01 p.m. and 7.07 p.m., he was called four times with each call ringing out. A text message sent to
his mobile line was yet to be acknowledged or replied as of press time. But former governor of Lagos State had, in February, told those asking questions about the presence of the bullion vans at his residence in Bourdillon, Ikoyi, to mind their business, saying that he could keep his money anywhere he wanted.
While fielding questions from newsmen on the bullion vans photographed as they were entering his premises, Tinubu said he was not a government contractor and therefore had the right to spend his money as he pleased.

The former governor had said: “What is your issue with bullion vans in my house? I have not done any government business in the last five years. So I didn’t steal government money.  “And the bullion van was not said to contain election
materials. So what offence have I committed?

Adeyanju, after submitting the petition at the EFCC reception, later addressed the press on his expectations
from the anti-graft agency.

Mea n w h i l e , w h e n contacted to ascertain that the commission had formally received the petition and how soon it
would take action on it, the commission’s head of media and publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, told Saturday Tribune that he did not know anything about the petition because “petitions don’t come to my office.”

He said he knew nothing about the petition or its authors.  According to him, people come to the EFCC to submit petitions which are, however, not accepted by his office. “I don’t know anything about Adeyanju. I don’t know anything about the petition. Petitions don’t come to my office. Everybody comes here to drop petition. They don’t come to my office to drop it. “I don’t know anything about the petitioners. I don’t know Adeyanju. Petitioners come here every day. You know where they drop petitions; you go to the gate and drop your petition,” Uwujaren told SaturdayTribune in a telephone conversation.