Justice Haruna Tsamani, the lead judge of the Presidential Election Petition Court, has dismissed the drug trafficking claims against Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the Labour Party (LP).
LP had claimed that Tinubu was involved in a drug trafficking case in which he forfeited $460,000 to the United States of America via a case determined by a US District Court.
The judge agreed with the submission of Tinubu’s counsel, citing a letter issued by the US Embassy in 2003.
The allegation is one of the grounds upon which the petition of the LP was instituted against the declaration of Tinubu as president-elect after Nigeria’s February 25 presidential election.
The embassy had communicated with Tafa Balogun, the Inspector-General of Police at the time, that a records check conducted to establish Tinubu’s involvement in drug crimes came back negative.
The court proceeded to read the contents of the letter from the US embassy in Nigeria.