By Abiola Olawale
Senator Babafemi Ojudu, an eminent journalist and former Special Adviser on Political Matters to immediate past President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, has recounted how President Bola Ahmed Tinubu strategically recorded a conversation with a Jewish lawyer exposing alleged corruption under former Nigerian military dictator, late Gen Sani Abacha.
Ojudu, a notable Nigerian journalist, politician and activist, disclosed this during an appearance on State Affairs, a podcast hosted by Edmund Obilo.
Speaking during the interview, Ojudu explained that he and Tinubu who was in exile in the United Kingdom (UK), at the time, met with a Jewish lawyer who was willing to discuss and provide the details of Gen Abacha’s alleged financial misconduct and illicit financial deals.
Ojudu, a former lawmaker representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District of Ekiti State in the Senate said during the meeting, which lasted about two hours, the informant detailed how Abacha was allegedly stealing staggering sums of monies from Nigeria and listed some of the key figures allegedly involved in the deal as including the Chagoury brothers.
However, midway through the discussion, according to Ojudu, Tinubu excused himself to use the bathroom.
He said Tinubu only revealed to him after the meeting ended that he had secretly switched the recording tape to continue capturing the conversation without the lawyer noticing.
He said Tinubu explained that this allowed him to record the full extent of the revelations without the informant’s knowledge.
He revealed: “So, I went to his house, and he said, there is this Jewish lawyer who has promised him information on how Abacha was stealing our resources and those who are helping him to steal the resources.
“I was excited as a newsman, and you know, we went there, we sat before the lawyer. And you know, he kept reeling out how Abacha was stealing, who was helping him, and the name constantly coming out of that was the Chagoury brothers.
“I was so excited again, but I felt so bad, so agitated because I couldn’t write. I needed to take notes. I kept trying to memorize, whatever I could memorize. And, you know, Midway through the engagement, our brother excused himself to go to the bathroom.
“We continue discussing. After about two hours, the engagement came to an end, and we entered the taxi to return to his house.
“While we were in the taxi, I said Man, this what you have taken me to listen to today is so super exclusive, world exclusive. But unfortunately, I will have to talk to you when we get home so that you remember some things that I didn’t know. And he said, don’t worry yourself, I had the tape recorder with me.
“He said the time he went to the bathroom, I went to change the side one to side two.”
After the meeting, Ojudu said he took the tape and used it to publish a detailed, moving story that significantly impacted Abacha’s regime.
Ojudu added that the details were also outlined in a book he authored titled: ‘Adventures of A Guerrilla Journalist.’
It would be recalled that Abacha ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. And since his death, massive revelations of corruption about his administration have been unfolding periodically.
Since his death, efforts to recover the looted funds have been extensive and this has involved multiple countries. The United States, Switzerland, and other nations have reportedly repatriated hundreds of millions of dollars back to Nigeria. For instance, in 2020, over $311 million was returned to Nigeria from New Jersey and another state in the US.
