2023: Tinubu support group snubs questions on principal’s bullion van, age

An interview with the director-general of the Tinubu Support Management Council, Abdulmumin Jibrin, led to a back and forth as he repeatedly snubbed questions concerning Bola Tinubu’s source of wealth, cash-carrying bullion van and age.

Mr Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had on Monday formally declared his intention to run for the country’s president in 2023 after months of speculation.

On March 29, 2021, Mr Tinubu celebrated his birthday, and a colloquium was hosted to mark the day. Mr Tinubu’s age is known to be 69.

However, the APC leader’s critics claim he is older than 69.

Source of wealth, bullion van, age

While on the morning show of Arise Television, Mr Jibrin, when asked about his principal’s source of wealth and the discrepancies around his age, said “this question you have just asked is part of what I have answered earlier. I think at this point that we have gotten to, our emphasis should be on the pedigree of this candidate..what he has achieved.”

He stressed that the focus should be on the presidential aspirant’s capacity and competence.

Again, he was asked ” how did Bola Tinubu make so much money that he had a bullion van in his home on election day. And how old is he?”

Mr Jibrin in his response said: “When you continue to repeat the question, you will get the same answer. These are all trash from the internet that people put together and we will not elevate such conversation.

“But when the campaign commences, we will bring out facts and figures before Nigerians but we will not create a narrative for them.”

When he was asked again, he questioned the journalist’s professionalism while asking the interviewer to “tolerate his response.”

“I responded, if you don’t like the way I responded to it, you move on,” he said.

Mr Jibrin had earlier during the interview said being a good leader is not a function of age.

“You can be a young man and be a bad leader, a young man well educated and be a bad leader and you can be an old man of 70 years even above and be a very good leader…The most important thing is capacity and competence.”

On the eve of the 2019 general elections, viral pictures on social media showed two bullion vans driving into Mr Tinubu’s residence.

Mr Tinubu later admitted the bullion vans were conveying money to his house, but defended his action, saying he did nothing wrong because he was not a government official.

Corruption allegations

Mr Jibrin said: “practically everybody” (Nigerian politicians) have been accused of corruption.

However, the only way to know if a politician is corrupt is when a court judgement has been passed.

He said the corruption charge is not unusual because Mr Tinubu is a “frontrunner.”

At the end of the interview, he was again asked “was there a case of a bullion van or not?

He replied: ”I stand comfortably and strongly on my previous answers to this question.

In October 2020, the former Lagos governor was accused of money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, and sundry corrupt practices by one Dapo Apara, a Nigerian chartered accountant.