In less than 24hrs to the presidential election of Nigeria dated 23 of February 2019, two bullion vans were spotted driving into the residence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu located in Bourdillon, Ikoyi, Lagos State. Large crowds who seemed like people who needed help were seen gathered outside the gate of the house. Some people took pictures and shared on social media. While many thought it was the usual fake news and propaganda move by agents of the opposition party, Tinubu who had earlier boasted that he was richer than Osun State came out beating his chest like King Kong admitting the incident actually took place.

In his words:

“Excuse me, is it my money or government money? I don’t work for the government. I am not in an agency of government and let anyone come out to say I have collected contract from the government of President Muhammadu Buhari or the APC in the last five years. They should prove it.

“I am on my own and I am committed to my party. So, even if I have money to spend on my premises, what is your headache? If I don’t represent any agency of government and I have money to spend, if I like, I give it to the people free of charge as long as it is not to buy votes.

“Who are those monitoring my house or bullion vans? They must be mischief-makers because they report falsehood. They are liars and idle.

Next month will make it a year that the incident has taken place and all the security agencies in Nigeria have looked away. Even when the chairman of the EFCC was questioned about the event in public, he dodged it. The EFCC claims it acts on petitions and there was no petition against Tinubu concerning the bullion vans. An activist Deji Adeyanju publicly submitted a petition to that effect and the EFCC failed to act on it. The anti-graft body didn't even pretend to act or attempt to do a sham job. I will not be shocked if Deji is served Suya or kilishi on the streets of Abuja with copies of the petition he submitted.

The bullion vans scandal has become the snake with two heads and has refused to die. It has been coming up and it will never stop rearing its ugly head until an arrangement similar to how President Muhammadu Buhari got his elusive school certificate is made or better still, the law is allowed to take it's course impartially without fear or favour. 

What the bullion vans scandal mean

Many supporters of Tinubu who see him as the key to a Yoruba man being president in 2023 have been embarrassing themselves on social media trying to defend him. Someone asked if it was money that was actually in the bullion vans and that journalists need to prove that beyond reasonable doubts. I guess in the person's village, bullion vans are used to convey second-hand clothes or vegetables and fresh fruits from the farm.

Two major offences were committed by that singular action of Tinubu and they are alleged money laundering and attempted electoral fraud. As for money laundering, the Anti-Money Laundering Act put a cap of N5 million on cash that could be handled by private individuals and N10 million for corporate bodies. This implies that any cash transaction beyond N5 million by the former should be done via the bank. In essence, what Tinubu has done is money laundering and he should have his day in court like every normal offender.

As for electoral fraud, Nigeria has been battling with the issue of votes-trading for some years now. During elections, there are irregular huge cash movements for the purpose of inducing voters. For this to take place hours to a presidential election involving a politician seen as one of the financiers of a political party, it wouldn't be out of place to suspect the funds were meant to bribe voters which is a crime. The electoral body, INEC was quick to pass the buck to the EFCC by claiming it lacks prosecutorial powers.

Blight on Buhari's anti-corruption war

In the nearest future, when Buhari repeats his plagiarized line that 'he belongs to nobody and he belongs to everybody', he will be reminded that his anti-corruption war is highly politicized and it nurses sacred cows like Tinubu. History will vividly record that against him.

Stumbling block on Tinubu's road to Aso Rock Villa

Even though you have all the money in the world, you can't buy everybody. This is why every politician craves for a good name and spends millions of naira to look good in the media. The scandal reeks of an integrity vacuum which will put Tinubu in the same tight corner Atiku Abubakar found himself during the build-up to the 2019 presidential election as many thought he was corrupt. He reportedly paid millions of dollars to lobbyists to clear his path to America for political reasons.

Nigerians have seen the scathing effects of corruption first-hand and they don't want to return to the core PDP days of 'sharing the money'. If they see the traits of the past in Tinubu, then he will become unelectable to forestall future hardships and other Robin Hood antics.

Most Nigerians during the elections admitted that Atiku was smarter and more promising than Buhari but they couldn't trust him with the national treasury. They felt it was better to stick with an alleged dullard nicknamed 'Baba Go Slow' with the hope that the Nigerian bus moving at the pace of a snail would one day get to its the destination during their lifetime or after their demise.

When the mudslinging associated with politics starts in 2022/2023; I mean when Tinubu meets his real opponents in the ring, the bullion vans scandal will be used as the joker that ends the game. Its would be like the powerful right-hand of American heavyweight boxer, Deontay Wilder. When it lands, it's goodnight!