Premium Times columnist says he found no data on a Tinubu conviction in the US
Lawyer Kayode Oladele stated in an opinion column that he found no available court records indicating criminal prosecution, a trial, or a conviction of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the United States. He referred to 1993 civil asset forfeiture proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
As Premium Times Nigeria writes, Oladele considers it legally incorrect to equate these civil proceedings with a criminal conviction of Tinubu. According to his explanation, in rem proceedings are directed against property rather than constituting criminal prosecution of a specific person.
Civil forfeiture
The author noted that civil forfeiture may involve serious allegations concerning the origin or use of property, but does not in itself mean criminal prosecution or conviction of its owner. He referred to the 1996 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Ursery, which, in his account, distinguishes between civil in rem forfeiture and criminal punishment in the context of the prohibition on double jeopardy.
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Oladele also mentioned the 1931 case Various Items of Personal Property v. United States. In his view, a claim of a criminal conviction requires the establishment of criminal charges, a trial, and a corresponding court judgment.
The William Jefferson case
The column compares this with a U.S. investigation that ended in the criminal prosecution and conviction of former congressman William Jefferson. The name of former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar, according to the author, appeared in certain aspects of the investigation, including allegations concerning a proposed telecommunications deal in Nigeria.
At the same time, Oladele stressed that Jefferson, not Abubakar, was the person charged and convicted in this criminal case. The author argues that mentioning a person during an investigation or that person's connection to circumstances examined by investigators does not amount to criminal prosecution and a conviction.
