Dele Alake, the Director of Strategic Communication for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, has linked the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, to investments in blue-chip companies.
During an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics that was monitored by BizWatch Nigeria, Mr Alake discussed Tinubu’s wealth.
When asked where the former Lagos Governor’s wealth came from, he stated, “What I know is that right from his days in the corporate world, he has been trading in stocks, and he himself said so.”
“He has been buying stocks and bonds and all of that. I am not a finance person. So, I am not going to be interested in the nitty-gritty of it all. But I know he has been trading in stocks.
“I know that when you trade in stocks and you are a finance person, you know how to juggle the stock market and all of that.
“Those who are adept at it know what I am talking about. They wouldn’t start questioning how he made his money from stocks.
“He was buying stocks of blue chip companies and all of that. He was making money and he was spending money. He has been doing all of these years before he got into office.”
Critics and opponents of the former Lagos State governor have continued to question his wealth, with some accusing him of corruption and secretly owning stakes in companies.
“Mr Tinubu and his supporters, however, have continued to deny the allegations and maintain that he earned his wealth legally.
With elections approaching, those questions have become more prevalent, but Mr Alake believes they are the result of “pull-him-down” syndrome, jealousy, and hatred.
“Why people are querying the source of his wealth is because he had been a successful governor of Lagos and a successful politician even after office,” he said.
“He is about the only one of the class of 1999 who is at that enviable political height today. He is bound to attract all of these negative comments.”
Mr Alake emphasized that he knew Tinubu was spending money and was wealthy long before he was elected.
That was critical to him.
“He made his money well before he got into office. I think what is important to Nigerians, really, is to know that this man was not a pauper before he came into office, like some others,” he said.
Alake refused to say whether Tinubu owns or has investments in any Nigerian companies.
He said, “What is my business about the company that he owns in Nigeria?
“If tomorrow you become like Bola Ahmed Tinubu, why should I be bothering about the companies you own as long as it is not proved that you have taken the money of your state or whatever company you work for?
“It is not proven and you are not indicted in any court of law. Why should I now be bothering my head?
“It is an extraneous issue and, like I always say, pandering to the whims and caprices of those who are jealous and extremely envious and suffering from OCH, obsessive-compulsive hatred, of Asiwaju.”
