Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun, has accused opposition politicians of using a US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case involving President Bola Tinubu for political propaganda.
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, spoke with journalists on
Sunday in Osogbo, the Osun capital.
He said the controversy over the case was being exploited by
opposition elements to mislead Nigerians and gain political advantage ahead of
the 2027 general election.
Oyintiloye said the matter before a US court is an FOIA
lawsuit seeking access to records held by American law-enforcement agencies and
does not amount to a criminal prosecution or retrial of Tinubu.
“An FOIA case is about access to government records. It is
not a criminal trial, a retrial or a judicial declaration of guilt,” he said.
The APC chieftain said no US court had reopened or ordered a
criminal retrial against Tinubu, adding that no American judge had pronounced
the president guilty of drug trafficking.
He said that records held by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) or Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) should not
automatically be interpreted as evidence of criminality.
Oyintiloye said investigative files may contain unproven
allegations, leads or information supplied by third parties.
He also cited FOIA Exemption 7(C), which protects certain
law enforcement records from disclosure where releasing them could constitute
an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
He urged Nigerians and the media to avoid “trial by document”, adding that allegations
against Tinubu had repeatedly resurfaced at critical points in his political
career.
He recalled that controversies surrounding Tinubu’s academic
credentials generated extensive public debate during his two-term tenure as
Lagos governor between 1999 and 2007, and resurfaced during the 2023
presidential election.
The APC chieftain accused opposition politicians of
recycling allegations bordering on certificate forgery, criminality and drug
trafficking instead of presenting Nigerians with alternative policies and
programmes.
He challenged opposition parties to tell Nigerians what they
would do differently if elected in 2027.
“The opposition should tell us their manifesto, not
blackmail. Tell Nigerians what you have on the table and why they should vote
for you,” he said.
Oyintiloye said politicians should be judged based on their
ideas, manifestoes, records and performance rather than personality attacks.
He also urged Nigerians to scrutinise political claims and
distinguish between allegations, investigations, charges and convictions.
“Privacy is not a crime. An investigation is not a
conviction. A document is not automatically a fact simply because it bears the
seal of a government agency,” he added.
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