A group of lawyers loyal to the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has dismissed the drug trafficking allegation against him.
The group known as the Lawyers Network for Bola Ahmed Tinubu (LANBAT) said the allegation against the former Governor of Lagos State has no substance in law at all.
OsunDaily News reports that the Co-convener of LANBAT, Sufyanu Sai’du, stated this while addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday.
Sai’du accused the opposition of being responsible for the allegation and defamatory statements against Tinubu, asking them to focus on issue-based campaigns.
The lawyer asserted that the ruling APC has provided a clear manifesto that would renew the hope of Nigerians, urging the electorate should not fall for opportunists.
He said: “The allegation that Tinubu was linked to drug trafficking in the past has no substance in law at all”.
“However, there is an appalling trend that has over the years characterized our politics during every election, and obviously 2023 will not be an exception.
“We have a society that deviates and gets distracted from issue-based campaigns but pursues frivolities over purpose and we may often subject ourselves to more ridicule before the international community.
“As we draw closer to the election, we are confident that it is only Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Shettima amongst other major contenders that have had direct engagement with all the sections that are crucial to our society.
“Laughably and pitiably, one of the candidates has told the world that his manifesto is in his head even in less than 100 days to the election.”
Also speaking at the press conference, the Co-convener of the group, Olalekan Adeshina, said the case against Tinubu in the United States was a tax matter and not a drug case.
He said: “If you are not a lawyer, you ask lawyers to explain things to you. The case was not against the person of Bola Tinubu, it was a tax matter.
“We know you cannot convict somebody without a charge number and until now, the individual claiming to have investigated the matter has not been able to convince Nigerians that Tinubu was a defendant in the so-called case.”
