The Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum has called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, former military Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar, former President Goodluck Jonathan, and former Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku to publicly address the ongoing United States court proceedings involving records related to President Bola Tinubu.
The forum's president, Akin Malaolu, issued the call in a statement released on Sunday, September 6, 2026, and obtained by Legit.ng. The group said recent developments in American courts had revived concerns about Tinubu's integrity and Nigeria's international standing.
FBI Filings and the Distinction Between Investigation and Guilt
The forum pointed to FBI court filings which, according to the group, confirmed that the records under litigation relate to a criminal investigation into drug-related offences and that Tinubu was a subject of that investigation. However, the forum was careful to draw a distinction between investigation and guilt.
"This does not amount to a conviction, nor should anyone pretend that an investigation is proof of guilt," the statement read. Despite that, it argued that a documented foreign law-enforcement inquiry into a sitting president remained a matter of legitimate public concern touching on transparency and accountability.
Criticism of Silence and Calls for Full Disclosure
Much of the group's anger was directed at what it called the "graveyard silence" of Nigerians who have historically spoken out on issues of national importance. It questioned specifically why Obasanjo, who served as President during the period Tinubu governed Lagos state, had said nothing publicly about the latest US court developments.
The forum also noted reports linking Obasanjo to possible support for Tinubu's 2027 re-election campaign, suggesting his silence could raise doubts about whether political calculations were overriding principle. The forum's demands stopped short of calling for Tinubu's removal. Instead, it urged the President to support the fullest lawful release of the relevant records.
"If there is nothing in the records that implicates the President in wrongdoing, then full lawful disclosure should help put the matter to rest," the statement said. It also called for an independent and transparent process to address any outstanding questions if credible concerns remained after disclosure.
Warnings of International Pressure and the Path Forward
The group raised the stakes of its intervention by citing Venezuela and Panama as countries where international legal and geopolitical developments had moved swiftly. It warned Nigerian leaders not to assume the country was immune from similar pressures simply because citizens appeared disengaged.
Should credible evidence ultimately show that Tinubu's continued hold on the presidency conflicted with the integrity demands of the office, the forum said resignation would be the "honourable course." The statement closed with a pointed message to all elder statesmen it named: "The time for silence is over. The time to act is now. Nigerians deserve the truth. Nigeria deserves accountability. And Nigeria's leaders of conscience must not wait until it is too late to speak."
Legit.ng earlier reported that Tinubu filed a response in a US district court arguing that records sought by a researcher are protected under US privacy law. The case stems from FOIA requests filed by Aaron Greenspan seeking FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) files linked to a Chicago drug-involvement investigation from the early 1990s. Tinubu's lawyers argued that personal curiosity about a foreign leader does not meet the legal threshold for public interest under FOIA.
