Nigeria, Sept. 2 -- The continuing attempt by some political opponents of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to portray the 1993 civil forfeiture proceedings in the United States as proof that he was prosecuted and convicted of a criminal offence is, in my view, legally frivolous and morally unscrupulous.

It is also particularly difficult to reconcile with the position often taken by the same political actors when discussing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the criminal investigation and prosecution of former United States Congressman William Jefferson.

As a lawyer trained, practising in both the United States and Nigeria, I believe that political disagreements, however intense, should not be allowed to obliterate settled distinctions ...