Atiku vs Tinubu: FBI records saga damaging Nigeria’s image – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

Nigerian political commentator Hakeem Baba-Ahmed has criticized the ongoing controversy surrounding President Bola Tinubu and his records with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In a recent post on X, Baba-Ahmed stated that the dispute between Tinubu and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which includes former presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, has done more damage to Nigeria's image than the release of the records themselves.

Baba-Ahmed lamented that Nigeria is already suffering from issues such as insecurity, corruption, poverty, and crimes, and argued that the focus should be on addressing these problems rather than the legal battle involving Tinubu's records. He wrote, "Shouldn’t we be more concerned over the damage being done to our image as Nigerians by the PBAT/FBI/Atiku saga?

We are already damaged by seemingly outsourcing our national security, unspeakable levels of corruption, poverty, crimes and collapse of integrity of key institutions."

The controversy stems from Tinubu's legal challenge in a US court to prevent the release of his FBI records dating back to the 1990s. These records relate to drug-trafficking allegations against him during that time period. Tinubu's legal action was prompted by transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who had demanded the records through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against various US government agencies.

Greenspan's requests included the FBI's complete file on Tinubu and FBI Form 302 interview records from 1992 to 1993. The case also involves an alleged record connected to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving approximately $460,000 linked to Tinubu.