Atiku alleges Tinubu panicking over fresh demand for FBI/DOJ to release records of $460,000 drug forfeiture case
By Ishaya Ibrahim
The Atiku Media Office has accused the Presidency of attempting to “whitewash” President Bola Tinubu’s past US narcotics case, insisting that the $460,000 forfeiture linked to heroin trafficking in 1993 cannot be erased from public records.
In a statement signed and released in Abuja on Thursday, July 23, 2026, the office faulted a recent response by the President’s media aide, Bayo Onanuga, describing it as a “reckless and shameful” attempt to “bury the records” of the case “under an unwieldy and hollow essay.”
The Atiku Media Office took issue with the Presidency’s claim that the narcotics trafficking charges against Tinubu had “long been settled” and were rendered moot by an electoral mandate.
“This argument essentially admits that Tinubu indeed faced investigation on narcotics trafficking, but suggests that his current position as President grants him immunity, thereby wiping the records of his links to the heroin scandal clean,” the statement read.
Quoting a Yoruba adage, “an aged bowl of pounded yam can still steam,” the office challenged Onanuga and the Tinubu media team: “if the case against their principal is truly time-barred, why are they so panicky about any attempt to revisit it? Why is President Tinubu blocking every move to unravel what is in his FBI/DOJ US files?”
The statement argued that the Office of the President “mirrors the soul of the society it governs,” and that having “an alleged ex-trafficker in that office inflicts serious reputational damage on Nigeria’s image and on every Nigerian on the global stage.”
It further stated that issues of criminal justice “are never completely thrown out” and can be revisited, especially given a change of leadership in the United States between 2023 and 2027.
“It is the duty of law enforcement agencies to determine whether the case can be reopened in the interest of justice,” it added.
The Atiku Media Office urged President Tinubu to “submit himself to the process of revisiting the case” instead of “frustrating disclosures through frivolous court appeals or deploying his media team to issue long, hollow essays aimed at rewriting history for personal gain.”
“Revisiting the narcotics case against a sitting president is not an affront to the intelligence of Nigerians. Rather, it is a bold attempt to ensure that the wheel of justice continues to turn,” the statement concluded.
