Prof Itse Sagay has defended the EFCC over its alleged cold feet in probing All Progressives Congress Chieftain, Bola Tinubu over the bullion vans spotted at his home on the eve of the 2019 presidential election even after receiving a petition.
Sagay stated that Tinubu should be given a benefit of doubt as he got rich from his own hardwork and investment. He also alleged that the petition was written in bad faith and hatred which is why the EFCC is not investigating.
He said: “If there is no credence in the petitions, what is there to investigate? You know Nigerians are very adept at writing petitions. They like frivolous petitions just as they like litigations. If you know how many petitions are thrown out at the NJC, you will be amazed.
“The Nigerian mind tends to be very vicious in terms of these things. They don’t like Tinubu so they must write a petition against him; a stupid baseless petition.
“My view is that there is no basis for those petitions. There is no merit in those petitions and that is why the EFCC is not acting on them.
“They said they sighted bullion vans in front of his house. Is that an offence? It makes no sense to me. If a bullion van comes to my house now to deliver anything, does that make me a criminal? Even if it is money, and it is my money, what is wrong in that?
“So, I don’t see anything in those petitions. They are just written in bad faith and hatred and they can’t expect the EFCC to join them in this baseless hatred of other people and pursue a vicious campaign of calumny.
“Tinubu was already very rich before he became governor. He is not a man who became rich after he joined the government.
“He worked in the petroleum sector. I recalled that during the course of his fight with Abacha, he had to escape for his life in order to join so many other people like Anthony Enahoro, Wole Soyinka, and many other pro-democracy activists.
“Tinubu was the one funding quite a lot of the organisations and those staying abroad. So, he has always been a man of means.
“It will be ridiculous that having come back to the country, won’t he invest his money in various ventures? So, no one should be surprised that he is a rich man.”