The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), based in Abuja, has ruled on the allegations surrounding President Bola Tinubu's alleged drug trafficking conviction in the United States of America (USA).
In a joint petition filed by the Labour Party and its candidate, Mr Peter Obi, the court has dismissed the claim, affirming that the evidence presented indicates that the $460,000 fine imposed on President Tinubu in the US was related to a civil matter.
The court clarified that this fine did not constitute a criminal conviction that could justify disqualifying Tinubu from running in the presidential election held on February 25. Justice Haruna Tsammani, who led the five-member panel, emphasised that upon careful examination of the exhibits presented, it became evident that the case leading to the fine imposed on President Tinubu belonged to the civil docket in the US courts.
Contrary to the petitioner's arguments, the court clarified that this case was a civil forfeiture proceeding involving bank funds rather than a personal action against Tinubu himself. Such civil forfeiture proceedings, the court explained, are targeted at the property rather than the owner.
Additionally, the court held that Obi and the Labour Party failed to provide evidence demonstrating that Tinubu was indicted, prosecuted, tried, or convicted for any criminal offence in the USA. The court noted that a letter from the Inspector General of Police in 2003 and subsequent confirmation from the American Embassy showed no criminal record against Tinubu in their centralised information centre.
The court emphasised that these documents, the letter from the Inspector General of Police and the response from the US Embassy, were public and admissible as evidence. Furthermore, the petitioners could not establish that Tinubu had been tried and convicted for any dishonesty-related offence.
Lastly, the court pointed out that ten years had passed since the fine was imposed on Tinubu, making it an invalid ground for seeking his disqualification. Consequently, the court dismissed this aspect of the petition filed by the Labour Party and Mr Peter Obi aimed at nullifying President Tinubu's election.
The petitioners had raised concerns about Tinubu's eligibility to contest the presidential election, alleging that he had previously been indicted and fined $460,000 by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483, for an offence involving dishonesty and drug trafficking. They argued that such an indictment constituted grounds for disqualification under section 137 (1) (d) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
