The family of the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO) has denied a report that the late philanthropist and June 12 hero dealt drugs while he was alive.
According to Within Nigeria, a journalist named David Hundeyin wrote an article entitled: “Bola Ahmed Tinubu: From Drug Lord to Presidential Candidate,” in which he claimed that Abiola had dealt in hard drugs while he was alive.
But in a statement signed by Yushau Olalekan Abiola on behalf of Kudirat Abiola’s children, the late MKO’s family said Hundeyin’s baseless accusation exposed him as a hacking journalist who had carved his name in the sand of the fake news.
The statement went on to say that the journalist was only inciting hatred and wanted to smear the legacy of the celebrated winner of the June 12 presidential election.
It further noted that neither the late MKO nor its companies’ bank accounts have ever been frozen, as Hundeyin “falsely” claimed, adding that Abiola is so respected and dignified that he is the only Nigerian to have been granted entry to the United States had been admitted by America without his international passport.
The family wondered “why did the writer stoop so low to repeat an unsubstantiated claim that first appeared in the Daily Beast, an American tabloid, in 2015, where John Campbell, who invented it, could not concretely justify the rumour, when he was confronted with the Abiola family.
“Our father, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, GCFR, died a hero 24 years ago after being harassed by the military juntas of Generals Abacha and Abdulsalami. He died confronting the military dictatorship, determined to secure the Nigerian people’s mandate given to him in the historic elections of June 12, so that Nigerians, regardless of origin, may live and aspire freely!
It is disheartening that his legacy is dragged through the mud by David Hundeyin for his own ulterior motives.
The completely unfounded narcotics-related allegations by David Hundeyin regarding our father in his article Bola Ahmed Tinubu: From Drug Lord to Presidential Candidate not only raises questions about Hundeyin’s motive for including these fabricated facts, but also exposes Hundeyin as a hacking journalist.
In his article containing these despicable rumors, Hundeyin attempted to detail and back up every allegation he made about Bola Ahmed Tinubu with “some form of evidence” (but has yet to appear to present anything new beyond that). , which is currently in circulation).
When it came to this serious allegation against our father, he merely quoted an American tabloid, the only source he could find for his malicious ends.
“In his story and we quote – “In the course of researching this story, one name kept coming up as a comparison to Nigeria’s Teflon Asiwaju, a certain Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
When the Daily Beast covered this story a few years ago, it offered a tantalizing hint at an unimaginable parallel between 1993 and 2023.
“He gave the impression that the article in the Daily Beast was a recent article that drew a parallel between Bola Ahmed Tinubu and M.K.O. but this article was published in 2015.
Beyond this article, Hundeyin was unable to substantiate his claim that in his research, the name MKO “kept popping up as a comparison to the Nigerian phone Asiwaju.”
Strange, isn’t it, that he didn’t provide any other evidence for this? Some research! Indeed an investigative journalist.
“Hundeyin’s motive for this unsubstantiated claim is a mystery.
Perhaps our father is simply a victim in the war to bring down Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Or the journalist can be a willing pawn for those who try to tarnish MKO’s image because our father leads the role of reparations struggle against the beneficiaries of African enslavement.
While this was a just cause, it earned him many enemies in the West who wanted his name smeared and his indemnity cause buried.
“Neither our father’s bank accounts nor those of his companies were ever frozen.
He was a frequent visitor to the White House, was recognized by the Congressional Black Caucus along with several other key American organizations, and after the June 12 election he was allowed to enter the United States without his passport, a privilege not granted to any other Nigerian.
In fact, our family name is so important in the United States that a prominent corner in New York, right next to corners named after Nelson and Winnie Mandela and Yitzhak Rabin, was named after his wife, our mother, Kudirat Abiola.
This is not how the US government would treat those associated with drug trafficking.
“When this unsubstantiated allegation first surfaced in said American tabloid in 2015, we confronted John Campbell, a former US Ambassador to Nigeria, who is said to have said that MKO had been accused of drug trafficking.
He said he didn’t know anything specific, other than a rumor he’d heard from some in the military leadership, which he believed was being spread by people looking for justification for the cancellation of the June 12 elections. “
Meanwhile, the Hundeyin family has asked for results of his so-called research showing MKO involvement in narcotics, aside from the false allegations made in the 2015 Daily Beast article.
“We hereby declare for the record that our father has never been accused or charged or involved in any narcotics-related matters and we request David Hundeyin, the investigative journalist, to present the results of his so-called research, which excludes such allegations those of 2015 show Daily Beast articles.
“David Hundeyin’s attempt to portray himself as a purveyor of serious journalism or an investigative journalist cannot stand the test of time with his name engraved in the quicksand of fake news!”
