Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, has asked his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Bola Tinubu, to reveal his source of wealth.
WITHIN NIGERIA reports that Tinubu stated in an interview with BBC Focus on Africa on Tuesday that he inherited his wealth from real estate.
The former Lagos governor also compared himself to US billionaire Warren Buffet, who began with stock buying and brokerage.
Tinubu also claimed that he has not accepted any government appointment or contract since leaving office in 2007 and that he has been the most accused governor in the opposition for the past eight years.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday by his Media Aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku challenged Tinunbu to reveal his true source of wealth after he stated in 1999 that he could not complete secondary school due to his family’s poverty.
The PDP candidate wondered how Tinubu, whose family could not afford to send him to school, could inherit property from the same family.
Atiku also advised his APC counterpart to stop comparing himself to Warren Buffet, whose wealth has been linked by US authorities to narcotics.
He said:
Obviously thrown off balance when the BBC reporter asked him to disclose the source of his stupendous wealth, APC Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, responded by asking, “Are you an enemy of wealth?” He subsequently told a fable of how he inherited properties and also traded stocks like Warren Buffet. This is complete hogwash.”
Interestingly, Tinubu had told a Lagos State House of Assembly committee that was set up to investigate his academic records in 1999 that he could not complete secondary school because his family was too poor.
The Governor spoke about his difficult and traumatic youth and how he scaled the hurdles of life as a self-made man. After his primary education, the governor said he was admitted into secondary school but he could not further his education because of his poverty. The Governor thus had to engage in menial jobs before he proceeded to the United States of America in search of the Golden Fleece.
So how did Tinubu, whose family was too poor to send him to school despite a free education policy at the time, inherit properties from the same family? This is obviously balderdashed. Tinubu would do well to stop comparing himself with Warren Buffet whose source of wealth has never been linked to narcotics by US authorities.
The PDP candidate added that Tinubu’s source of wealth has always been in doubt, stressing that his wealth has never been questioned.
He added:
US authorities said Tinubu revealed in bank documents that he worked with Mobil Nigeria Limited in 1989 and his salary was just $2,400 and he had no other sources of income.
But records from his First Heritage Bank account showed that in 1990 (just within one year), Tinubu deposited $661,000 into his individual money market account and in 1991 deposited $1,216,500 into the same money market account. Where did he get the money from?”
On the other hand, Atiku Abubakar’s source of wealth has never been in doubt. The ones he has listed publicly include NICOTES (now Intels) founded in 1989; Prodeco, 1996; Atiku farms, 1982; and ABTI schools, 1992. Some of these companies like INTELS have had reputable Nigerians like the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and even traditional rulers on its board. We dare Tinubu to list his companies and source of wealth as Atiku has done.
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