Face Tinubu in Nigeria, not US courts, ex-lawmaker tells opposition

Former lawmaker Kayode Oladele has urged Nigeria’s opposition leaders to stop searching American courts for a legal route against President Bola Tinubu and confront him instead through domestic politics.

Oladele, a Nigerian-American attorney and former chairman of the House Committee on Financial Crimes, said the presidency would be decided by Nigerian voters, not U.S. courtrooms. He rejected claims that Tinubu’s 1993 civil forfeiture proceedings in the United States amounted to a criminal conviction.

“

As a federal lawyer practising in the United States, I have examined available federal court records and have not found any court record showing that President Tinubu was ever criminally charged, prosecuted or convicted of any offence in the United States.

“As a federal lawyer practising in the United States, I have examined available federal court records and have not found any court record showing that President Tinubu was ever criminally charged, prosecuted or convicted of any offence in the United States,” Oladele said. He added, “You cannot manufacture a criminal conviction where none exists.”

“

You cannot manufacture a criminal conviction where none exists.

He said the case repeatedly cited by Tinubu’s opponents concerned the forfeiture of property, not a criminal prosecution. “An allegation is not a conviction. An investigation is not a conviction. A civil forfeiture proceeding is not, by itself, a criminal conviction,” he said.

Oladele said the forfeiture issue had already appeared in legal challenges linked to the 2023 presidential election, without resulting in Tinubu’s disqualification. He described renewed efforts to find U.S. documents that could block Tinubu’s re-election as a “wild goose chase” and said the repeated searches risked embarrassing those pursuing them.

“

An allegation is not a conviction. An investigation is not a conviction. A civil forfeiture proceeding is not, by itself, a criminal conviction.