INVESTIGATION: 2023 Presidency: Details of corruption cases hanging on Tinubu, Saraki, other aspirants

As President Muhammadu Buhari has less than 13 months to spare in leading Nigeria, there is already a rat race among aspirants who want to succeed him. 

While there will still be more declarations from more politicians, activists and technocrats in the coming months, Caracal Reports looks at the credibility of presidential aspirants that have declared their intention to run for the office of President in 2023. 

Findings show that while some of them are still enmeshed in corruption cases, others have unresolved controversies around them whether in or out of government. 

Bola Tinubu

After a period of speculation, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, formally declared his intention to run for the country’s president in 2023.

He had disclosed this to journalists after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Monday, January 10, 2022.

The former Lagos Governor was one of those who foisted the Buhari regime on Nigerians, many have hence questioned his credibility as he had failed to speak against the inadequacies of this government. 

He also has to explain to Nigerians about two bullion vans that drove to his house in February 2019, and his actual age which many believe he has falsified.

Fraud cases against Tinubu date as far back as 1998, raising questions on how the former governor struggled to defer the full extent of the law.

A Nigerian chartered accountant, Dapo Apara, has also accused Tinubu, a consulting firm, Alpha-beta and a former Lagos State commissioner, Akin Doherty of money laundering, fraud, tax evasion and other corrupt practices.

Apara, who said he owns 30 per cent stake in the company, alleged that Tinubu “has directed and dictated the affairs” of the company by diverting assets to himself at the detriment of the claimant.  

 Bukola Saraki

Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday, 24th November 2021 informed Governor Samuel Ortom, elders and members of the State Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in Benue State of his intention to contest the Presidency in 2023.

Saraki said, “A political party that cannot organise its affairs has no business leading this country. A party that has organised its affairs is ready to lead the country and that is the PDP. This time we must stand for our own and charity they say begins at home.”

In August 2021, anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invited the former Kwara State governor in connection with the ongoing investigation into how a N17billion bond was spent during his tenure as the governor.

Saraki was also grilled on alleged fraudulent diversion of N9billion by his successor as governor, Alhaji Abdufathi Ahmed. 

Orji Uzor Kalu

The Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu has also announced his intention to run for Presidency 2023, the most coveted political position in Nigeria.

As the clamour from the South-East region to produce the next leader for Nigeria increases, the former Abia State Governor has said he will contest to occupy Aso Presidential Villa if his party, the APC gives the slot to the region.

He had disclosed this at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Tuesday, 11th January, 2022, adding that he would contest with Tinubu if they meet on their party field.

Kalu also has a controversial but pending court case on alleged N7.1billion fraud as he was found guilty and handed a 12-year jail term by a Federal High Court in Lagos.

 He and his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited and a former Director of Finance in Abia State, Jones Udeogu were accused of stealing N7.1billion from the treasury of the state when he was the governor.

Though the Supreme Court, in its judgment on May 8, 2020, quashed the conviction and ordered retrial of the defendants, the EFCC had asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja to set aside the September 29 ruling and order a fresh trial against Kalu.

 Anyim Pius Anyim

Former President of the Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim, has also publicised his interest in the presidency in 2023.

Like Kalu, he banked on the agitation that the next President should be a Nigerian of Igbo extraction to make his intention known.

While speaking on Friday, January 7, 2022, during the consultative meeting with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said his presidential ambition was based on the opportunity to “take the fair, just and equitable decision of zoning their presidential slots to the South, particularly the South-east region.”

The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) maintained that the South-East stakeholders “rebuild our broken-down social fabric; create jobs for the teeming youths and rehabilitate our collapsing educational systems among others.

“As we prepare for the 2023 elections, I take the liberty to say that the challenge before our great party is how to deliver on the expectations of the Nigerian people.”

On Sunday, October 24, 2021, the EFCC, also began an interrogation of the former Senate President into an alleged N780million fraud which also involved former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah.

An EFCC source said that the former SGF was also named in relation to alleged financial irregularities concerning the Centenary City project in Abuja.

Dave Umahi

Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State has also confirmed that he will run for the office of President in the 2023 general elections.

Umahi who defected from PDP to APC is the latest politician who disclosed ambition on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, after a meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Umahi disclosed that Buhari directed him to seek the support of the people and consult widely with party members and chieftains across the country.

He said he was not worried about the presidential ambition of the APC chieftain, Tinubu.

The governor’s declaration to run for the 2023 presidency comes a day after Tinubu announced his presidential bid on the same day with Kalu, which has now generated different reactions.

Umahi is not in the good books of the Indigenous People of Biafra, as the group had accused him of allegedly using the security agents to kill innocent youths in the state.

Late November 2021, four officers were injured by armed hoodlums during an attack in Effium Community of Ohaukwu local government area of Ebonyi State, and this led to reprisals in which many innocent lives were lost their lives.

 IPOB has several times alleged that Umahi cannot be trusted with power, as he is a stooge to President Muhammadu Buhari.