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The former governor
of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, yesterday said he has forgiven Nuhu
Ribadu, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime
Commission (EFCC) for his investigation by the anti-corruption agency.

Speaking in Lagos
at the launch of ‘Diary of a Debacle: Tracking Nigeria’s failed
Democratic Transition (1989-94),’ written by Olatunji Dare, Mr. Tinubu
traced the forgiveness to the spirit of humility occasioned by the
Ramadan fasting.

“Your period was a
big challenge. Manipulators wanted to use it for politics, but you did
what you had to do to some of us and we challenged that. I believe in
what you believe: transparency, honesty and integrity, making the
people the cornerstone of every economy of a nation,” Mr Tinubu said.

“But, I must thank
you once again that no matter the level of things here and there, you
did not falsely paint a crime and charge me falsely. Thank you, and in
the spirit of this month of Ramadan, I have forgiven you everything and
it is the truth. Some could have created chronic charges, even if the
court will let you go, but you refused to use that office to abuse it,
you refused to allow that. Thank you very much. You believe in what we
believe, so we are expecting you to join the democratic struggles and
liberate this country,” he said.

He, however, asked
Mr Ribadu to make good all the opportunity he has now to benefit the
needs and yearnings of Nigerians, which he claimed had been deprived of
quality leadership.

“I have heard so many speculations in the papers. So make it real. We must take control of our future,” he said.

The former Lagos
State governor was accused of certificate forgery and shoddy dealings
in the sale of the state’s N4 billion shares in the telecommunications
outfit, Econet (now Zain) during his tenure, an allegation which he
then denied.

With his name still
listed as one of those under prosecution for one case or the other, he
said that the transaction was a “straightforward institutional
investment”, which earned the state over N15 billion profit.

Anti-democracy

Berating how bad
eggs that contributed to the annulment of June 12 are now also parading
themselves as presidential aspirants and politicians in the country,
Mr. Tinubu described them as dubious, saying “did they say they are
democrats and they want to contest the next election and annul June 12?
If they were, they would not have annulled June 12.”

He said Nigeria only honours fraudulent men and those that have no reason for receiving national honours.

“Look at the annual
list of our national honour award. Only those that are known for their
notoriety and contributions to economic instabilities are there,” he
said.

Sitting beside
Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu, Mr. Ribadu has also been linked to the
2011 presidential race and has promised that all Nigeria needs now is a
youthful leadership, which he is set to grant.

A delegate of the
National Association of Nigerian Students, led by Agbabiaka Ahmed, also
stormed the venue of the event at exactly 1:08pm to call for the
establishment of voters registration centres on university campuses.