Bola Tinubu Tweets Reaction To Ribadu’s Defection To PDP, Wishes Former EFCC Chair Luck

Bola Tinubu, one of the founders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has tweeted a reaction to the recent defection of a prominent party member, Nuhu Ribadu, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Late last week, Mr. Ribadu, who was the founding chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, announced his resignation from the APC and his decision to seek the governorship of Adamawa State on the ticket of the PDP. Continue...

In a tweet earlier today, Mr. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and the main financier of the APC, said he wished his former political associate luck with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Using his Twitter handle, @asiwajutinubu, Mr. Tinubu wrote, “Ribadu remains a friend & brother. He is matured (sic). He remains one who believes in liberty, justice and service. I wish him LUCK with GOODLUCK.”

Mr. Ribadu’s defection to the PDP was seen as significant blow to the APC which is regarded as Nigeria’s main opposition party, even though critics accuse the party of doing little to articulate an alternative program for Nigeria or to ideologically distinguish itself from the ruling PDP. Many of the party’s major figures are disaffected former members of the ruling party.

In 2011, Mr. Tinubu supported Mr. Ribadu as the presidential candidate of the now defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The collaboration of the two men was seen as politically odd, since the former EFCC chairman had once listed then Governor Tinubu as one of Nigeria’s most corrupt public officials.

During Mr. Ribadu’s chairmanship of the anti-corruption agency, the EFCC had also indicted President Goodluck Jonathan—then the governor of Bayelsa State—and his wife, Patience Jonathan, for extensive money laundering and looting of public funds.

In a recent piece titled “Nuhu Ribadu: Then and Now,” ace columnist Sonala Olumhense criticized the former EFCC chairman for striking convenient political alliances with political figures he had once accused of corruption and for shamelessly denying official statements issued by the anti-corruption agency during his tenure.