Africa has a very huge problem when it comes to electing the right leadership. The electorate tends to go for the worst of the worst in the basket. From dictators, to thieves and outright criminals, many of Africa’s presidents and prime ministers should not be anywhere near top leadership.
Currently, Nigeria has just concluded a controversial general election. From this election, Bola Tinubu has been declared as the president-elect by the country’s electoral body.
Apparently, as president of Africa’s largest country by population, Tinubu will be in the warm company of dozens of African presidents with tainted pasts.
According to renowned Kenyan historian Opiyo Levin Odhiambo who is based in the United Kingdom, Bola Tinubu was once busted for being part of a drug gang that dealt in heroine in the United States by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
Mr. Opiyo narrated the tale on how Tinubu was investigated by the FBI and found to be linked with trading drugs. Here’s how Opiyo narrated:
“Just 30 years ago the FBI and American Drug Enforcement Agency linked the incoming president of Nigeria Bola Tinubu to a network of heroin traffickers in Chicago, and froze all his accounts which had more than $ 1.4 million dollars suspected to be drug money .
According to documents related to the case , around 1988 US drug enforcement agency DEA began investigating a white heroin trafficking network that was operating in Chicago.
The investigation disclosed that an individual called Lee Andrew Edwards was the seller of the drug. Supplying Edwards was Abiodun Agbele who had arrived in the US from Nigeria in 1988.
Abiodun was introduced to the business by his uncle Adegboyega Akande who lived at 7504 South Stewart Avenue , Chicago Ilinois, but returned to Nigeria in mid 1990s.
To crack the drug network, the DEA sent an undercover investigator to purchase heroin from Agbele who sold one ounce of white heroin to the investigator at $ 7,000 without knowing that it was a trap.
Agbele was consequently arrested , and agreed to cooperate by providing information regarding the drug network led by his uncle Akande, who operated mainly from Nigeria but also visited the US.
During interrogations Agbele confirmed that he wired huge profits to his uncle’s (Akande) various accounts, but at times he collected the money himself by visiting the US where he owned a house at 7504 South Stewart Avenue Chicago.
Further investigations by US custom agency revealed that this address was known as a drop-off point for packages from Nigeria that contained white heroin.
The investigations also disclosed the identities of various people who worked for Akande in the distribution network.
One of them was Bola Tinubu the incoming president of Federal Republic of Nigeria. According to records from the First Heritage Bank , Country Club Hills Ilinois, Tinubu opened two accounts in December 1989.
In the application Tinubu, gave his address as 7504 South Stewart Street, (the address owned by Akande the head of the drug trafficking network). Immediately after opening the account Tinubu deposited $1000, and five days later on January 4, 1990 , another $ 80,000 was deposited to his account by wire transfer from Banc one Houston Texas. T
his money was sent by Akande the drug lord who owned another house in Texas. According to Heritage Bank staff when Tinubu first arrived at the bank to open an account he was introduced to them by Akande.
Further records from the bank showed that two days after recieving $80, 000 in his bank account, Tinubu withdrew $20,000 to purchase a certificate of deposit for $10,000 while the remaining $10,000 was deposited into the money market account.
On the same day Tinubu made an application for a loan of $8000 to buy a car. In his application, Tinubu said he worked for Mobil oil Nigeria Ltd and his salary was $2,400 per month, and that he had no other income.
The loan was granted. That same month in 1990 , Tinubu deposited $661,000 into his money market account and in 1991 deposited $1, 216,500 into the same account.
Because of these huge transactions US investigators approached Mobil oil Nigeria to know more about Tinubu’s employment status in the company. While the company agreed that Tinubu was their employee, they pointed out that this position did not give him any authority to transfer money on behalf of the company.
On January 10, 1992, application for seizure warrants were presented to the court of the Northern District of Ilinois against Tinubu for failing to pay taxes.
After considering the application and the attached affidavits , the judge issued seizure warrant for all accounts owned by Tinubu. The money in the accounts exceeded $1.4 million . Shortly thereafter Tinubu contacted the bank to transfer some money but he was told his accounts had been frozen by the US Treasury.
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On January 14, 1992, Kevin Moss Special Agent. Internal Revenue Service contacted Tinubu. According to the report Kevin filed , Tinubu confessed to him that he knew Agbele the drug supplier , and that he had been introduced to him by Akande the head of the drug network.
In his report Kevin also noted: ” Tinubu admitted that the $80,000 of the funds used to open the bank accounts at first Heritage Bank had come from Akande ( the head of the drug network). In conclusion Kevin wrote in the report:
“For the reasons set forth above, there is probable cause to believe that the funds in the accounts, held by First Heritage Bank, Citibank, N.A. and Citibank, International, in the names of Bola Tinubu and Compass Finance and Investment Company, Ltd., represent property that was involved in transactions in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 and 1957, or is property traceable to such property or represents the proceeds of drug trafficking making the fund in the accounts forfeitable to the United States pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §981 and 21 U.S.C. §881″.”
