With just one witness, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his Vice, Kashim Shetima and the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday closed their respective defence in a petition by the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi who are seeking nullification of the February 25 presidential election.
The Senate Majority Leader, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, a politician from Ekiti and long-time protege of Mr Tinubu was at the election petitions tribunal in Abuja on Wednesday to give testimony against Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the opposition Labour Party.
In his evidence-in-Chief, Senator Bamidele insisted that the $460, 000 forfeiture order against the President by an American Court was in respect of a civil matter that cannot take the place of criminal charges.
But the highlight of his testimony came when he admitted under cross-examination by Mr. Obi’s lawyers that Tinubu indeed forfeited over $460,000 in illicit drug proceeds. The case occurred in the United States in the 1990s when Mr Tinubu was living in Chicago. The politician had declined to address the forfeiture for several years, despite its domination of headlines in the run-up to the presidential election on February 25.
Livy Uzoukwu, a senior lawyer handling Mr Obi’s case, asked whether or not Senator Bamidele knows that the forfeiture was connected to narcotics dealing, to which he responded yes. He also responded that he understood there was money laundering involved in Mr Tinubu’s matter prior to the final forfeiture.
Bamidele, who is the immediate past Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and a registered member of the American Bar Association, said there was no conviction and sentence against Tinubu as required by law for it to be turned to criminal charges.
Contrary to Tinubu’s decision to call 39 witnesses, he terminated his defence alongside two other respondents after the evidence-in-chief and cross examinations of their one and only witness, Senator Bamidele.
Consequently, the election tribunal gave the respondents 10 days to file their final written addresses, the petitioners got 7 days to respond, and 5 days given to reply on point of law.