- DOWNLOAD Supplementary Submission to the Amicus Brief filed at the US District Court of DC
A day after Nigeria’s presidential election petition tribunal heard arguments from his lawyers over his drug-related indiscretions, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu nominated Atiku Bagudu, the man who helped late dictator Sani Abacha steal and launder billions of dollars belonging to Nigeria.
61 years old Bagudu was a federal lawmaker before he served as governor of northwestern Kebbi State for eight years. He is a stalwart of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and a political ally of President Tinubu.
Condemning the nomination of Bagudu, International human rights lawyer, Emmanuel Ogebe, Esq. in a statement said: “The nomination of Gov Bagudu, a principal actor in Gen. Abacha’s grand larceny of billions of dollars still being recovered from all over the world is a slap in the face of victims of Abacha’s reign of terror such as myself and Nigerians as a whole.”
The Statement further reads: “Sen. Bola Tinubu has thrown credibility, responsibility and shame to the wind by nominating a brother money launderer and fellow foreign fund forfeiter as a Cabinet minister.
“The attached brief I filed in the US District Court warning that the antecedents of Senators’ Tinubu and Bagudu were such that there is a palpable potential of further compromise of Nigeria’s €200 million currently in forfeiture proceedings has been vindicated.
“At a time when victims of #ENDSARS protests are being belatedly mass buried, with many families uncompensated, the father of money laundering is being resurrected into a federal government position. If he could loot billions while not in government, what will happen now?
“That the Bagudus, who are currently spending millions of dollars in a 10-year legal battle claiming Nigeria’s €200million stashed abroad as theirs, are now worthy to be rewarded with a ministerial appointment is indicative that APC has come to elevate corruption to a Renewed Hoax.
“Sen. Tinubu may as well appoint Bagudu Attorney General or Minister of Finance so that we know we don’t have a country altogether. That this was done on a day Nigerians were protesting Tinubu’s fuel hikes was to add insult on injury.
“I call on the Nationally Assembly and security agencies to halt this ignominious and insensitive nomination and desist from provoking Nigerian citizens any further.
“Sen. Tinubu came to power with worst corruption profile of any Nigerian ever and it appears he aims to sustain it.
“Already, the new policy changing dollar remittances to naira delivery had been called a money laundering mechanism by even Gen. Abacha’s Minister of Finance.
“It appears Tinubu instead of appointing “Technocrats” is bringing in ‘TakeAllCash.’
“I urge the NLC to protest this nomination and call on the U.S. government to permanently forgo any further settlement talks with the Bagudus.
“I urge the election petition court to speedily render judgment before there is nothing left of Nigeria. This madness and mischief must end now.
“Emmanuel Ogebe, ESQ.”
Click here to download the document.
SUPPLEMENTARY-AMICUS-BRIEF-71223