A former member of the House of Representatives, Kayode Oladele, has urged opposition leaders to stop seeking legal remedies in the United States and instead challenge President Bola Tinubu on policy issues in Nigeria.
Oladele, in a statement on Friday, said that the path to the presidency runs through Nigerian voters, not American courtrooms, as he dismissed claims linking Tinubu to a US criminal conviction.
He said repeated attempts to portray Tinubu’s 1993 civil forfeiture proceedings in the United States as evidence of a criminal conviction were legally misplaced, stressing that he had found no federal court record showing that the President was ever criminally tried or convicted in the US.
“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.
“I really don’t know who their lawyers are or what legal advice they are receiving, but there should be an end to this legal tourism against President Tinubu. You cannot manufacture a criminal conviction where none exists,” Oladele said.
The former Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Crimes said the 1993 case repeatedly cited by Tinubu’s opponents was a civil forfeiture proceeding against property and not a criminal prosecution or conviction of the President.
According to him, the distinction between civil forfeiture and criminal conviction is fundamental and cannot be altered by political rhetoric.
“Where is the indictment? Where is the criminal charge? Where was Tinubu arraigned? Where is the judgment convicting him of drug trafficking or any other criminal offence? There is none.
“An allegation is not a conviction. An investigation is not a conviction. A civil forfeiture proceeding is not, by itself, a criminal conviction. These are elementary distinctions in law,” he said.
Oladele noted that the forfeiture issue had already featured in the legal challenges arising from the 2023 presidential election without resulting in Tinubu’s disqualification.
He described renewed efforts to search US courts and government archives for documents that could create a legal obstacle to Tinubu’s re-election as a “wild goose chase”.
“Every election cycle, we seem to return to the same journey to America in search of an imaginary criminal conviction against Tinubu. At some point, this becomes embarrassing and risks turning those behind it into laughingstocks.
“American courts cannot manufacture a criminal conviction for the convenience of Nigerian politics. If there was no criminal trial and no conviction, no amount of document hunting can retrospectively create one,” Oladele said.
He urged Atiku and Obi to focus their opposition on the economy, security, employment, infrastructure, education and other challenges confronting Nigerians.
“Campaigns should be issue-oriented rather than reduced to mudslinging over nothing. Atiku and Obi have every constitutional right to challenge President Tinubu, but let that challenge be based on competing ideas and programmes.
“If they believe they can govern Nigeria better, let them tell Nigerians how. Let them challenge Tinubu on his policies, programmes and performance and allow the electorate to decide,” he said.
Oladele added that Freedom of Information requests, archival searches or litigation in the United States could not substitute for a judgment of criminal conviction.
“If you allege that a man was convicted, produce the judgment of conviction. If you say he was criminally prosecuted, produce the indictment, the charge and the record of the criminal proceedings. You cannot substitute allegations or civil proceedings for a criminal judgment,” he said.
The former lawmaker urged the opposition to prepare for the political contest of 2027 rather than continue what he called an endless search for legal shortcuts.
“My advice to Atiku and Obi is simple: end the legal tourism and face the issues. Come home and engage President Tinubu politically.
“The road to Aso Rock runs through the Nigerian electorate, not through American courthouses. President Tinubu will present his record, his opponents should present their alternatives, and Nigerians will decide who should lead them in 2027,” he said.
