FLASHBACK: EFCC Chairman Says Bola Tinubu Under Investigation For International Crime

When the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, appeared before the Nigerian Senate in September 2006, he revealed that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, then governor of Lagos State was a subject of investigation for “an international” crime.

While Ribadu did not disclose details of the alleged crime in order not to jeopardize investigations, he emphasized that the alleged crime had a huge international dimension.

Ribadu was invited by the senate to submit the EFCC report for the year and the senators used the opportunity to grill him on the agency’s findings.

While welcoming the EFCC chairman to the session, then-Senate President, Ken Nnamani, noted that the EFCC was instituted to fight corruption in the country and reminded Ribadu that the enabling Act required the agency to submit its report to the National Assembly every September.

Ribadu told the Senate that when the EFCC met the London Metropolitan Police and other international security agencies for assistance in the fight against corrupt practices, “the first thing they told us was to submit the names of powerful people in Government.”

The international collaboration led to the unraveling of the alleged crime committed by Tinubu, which was brought to the attention of the EFCC.

Ribadu revealed the names of other governors that were under investigation at the time, but said only Tinubu’s case had international dimension.

The other governors, according to Ribadu, were being investigated for misappropriating local government funds, which was not the case with Tinubu.

But Ribadu did not last long enough to conclude the investigation before he was removed in 2007.

However, Tinubu was arraigned by the Code of Conduct Bureau in September 2011 over the allegation that he operated foreign accounts during his term in office between 1999 and 2007, contrary to Nigerian laws.

The court however later ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.