A Rejoinder To John E., Oshodi: A case study of Tinubu as an unrepentant recidivist-from one borderline infraction to another (From the 1993 FBI Drug Case, to Chicago Certificate to more legal and ethical infractions)

By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja

Prof. John E. Oshodi is a professional psychologist and prolific writer, and commentator on Nigerian affairs.

In an article dated 13th April 2025, he made reference to a psychologist’s term “trauma looping” as the reason why Nigerians have refused to forgive President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) for things/crimes/indiscretions that happened over thirty years ago. According to him, some former Presidents of the United States of America (USA) had committed illegalities in the past which did not inhibit their performance during their tenures. He gave the examples of President Barack Obama who admitted the he previously experimented with cocaine and President Bill Clinton who committed perjury and illicit sexual affairs,just to mention a few.

However, the difference between these former Presidents of the USA and PBAT is that these former Presidents were one-time and one-off offenders.

Whereas since the year 1993 when the last drug and money laundering case of PBAT that was handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), PBAT has proved to be a repeat offender that is caught up in a cycle of recividism.

Recidivism is defined as “a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior
especially: relapse into criminal behavior”.

Let me provide some examples of both illegal and ethical infractions committed by PBAT since his assumption of office in the year 2023, they are as follows:

1. Assenting to Bills (such as the Bill for increasing the retirement age of judges to seventy-five years) that were enacted by the 9th Assembly of the National Assembly which was dissolved on 29th May 2023, whereas PBAT is constitutionally permitted to only assent to Bills enacted by the 10th Assembly which came into existence in June 2023;
2. Illegally assenting to a Bill for extension of the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), without alteration of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999;
3. Illegal assent to the Bill for Re-Introduction of the old Nigerian National anthem, a Bill that never underwent public hearing in the year 2024;
4. Obtaining humuguous amounts of foreign loans and expending such loans without prior consent of the National Assembly; and
5. Proclamation of a State of Emergency in Rivers State without waiting for the actual occurrence of the pre-requisite circumstances as prescribed under Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution.

The above list is not exhaustive.

It just provides evidence that PBAT (unlike the former and current Presidents of the USA, who were one-time offenders) is an unrepentant person caught up in the rapture of recidivism.

The only difference between his 1993 crimes and the ones he is committing now is that this time around he has the backing of the National Assembly, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and others who provide legal backing to make such infractions appear legitimate!!!

The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.