Revealed: Bawa began Tinubu’s probe after Magu’s suspension

The new chairman of EFCC is fishing to make a bold statement with the alleged probe of APC national leader Bola Tinubu.

According to a leak publish by People Gazette, the probe started in 2018 but gained momentum when a former official of Alpha Beta, a tax firm Tinubu allegedly controls, broke rank.

The commission’s former chairman Ibrahim Magu was inundated with corruption allegations against Tinubu. Magu however didn’t act.

But the new chairman actioned one of the petitions last year—the year Magu was going through the wringer thanks to Justice Minister Abubakar Danlami.

Bawa signed a letter  marked CR/3000/EFCC/LS/Vol4/322, dated November 6, 2020, requesting Tinubu’s asset declaration forms when he was governor of Lagos between 1999 and 2007.

“This request is made pursuant to Section 38(1) and (2) of the EFCC Act 2004,” the letter read in part.

This will be the second time Tinub will be cycling through corruption allegations—and trial.

His first was before the Code of Code Tribunal—under former resident Goodluck Jonathan.

Tinubu lawyers fought hard, and their client was acquitted.

Although the CCB tried to push Jonathan’s government into appealing the judgement. But then AGF Mohammed Adoke said in an interview with Premium Times he advised Jonathan, and they dismissed it as a witch hunt.

But the current probe seems largely related to Alpha Beta’s consultancy with Lagos tax revenue administration which the firm’s former MD Dapo Apara said reeks of corruption.

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Tinubu is among aspirants Nigerians believe are warming up for the presidency in the 2023 election, and may have interpreted the probe as a ruse by those opposed to his ambition.