Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has told anyone who cares to listen that the source of his wealth is clean. This is to clear all innuendos, now that the 2023 presidential election is inching closer. He said this in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

In his words: “I inherited great real estate and I turned the value around. I have not taken government appointment, no government contract.” He challenged anyone who has proof that he has cornered Lagos State commonwealth to come forward, adding that he is the most investigated former governor on this side of the Atlantic. “Excuse me, share what? Have they proven it? The World Bank… IMF has investigated the record in Lagos, what’s wrong with them? It is envy. It’s envy”, said he.

He added: “You ought to know how to analyse and how to ask questions, not in the opposite format. Are they [critics] enemies of wealth? If they are not enemies of wealth, investment does yield. I have an example of Warren Buffett and one of the richest men in America and in the world, he started from stock buying and brokerages. I inherited great real estate, I turned the values around.

“I’m not denying my wealth, I was the most investigated, the most accused governor in opposition for 8 years and up till 2007. And since I left the office, I have not taken any government appointment, no government contract.”

On security, Tinubu said those saying President Muhammadu Buhari has achieved nothing should be objective. “Buhari has done his best, I can’t run away from him being my friend, my leader in the party, I will not. I will defend him (Buhari) for that, it (insecurity) has reduced. Then, 17 local governments and about four states where we had flags of foreign jihadists in Nigeria, that is no more. That is long gone.

“To start chaos is easy, to bring normalcy and redecorate is more difficult. Here we are, Buhari has degraded, but not eliminated ISWAP. Then we talk briefly of lethal weapons and ammunition and technological equipment that could have helped accelerate the clean-up of those…

“The west is yet to feel comfortable enough with a Buhari administration to sell us the arms. We have to look for alternatives and that includes mass recruitment of a volunteer army,” he stated.

On what would make the difference in the area of security, if he becomes President, Tinubu replied: “It could change, it might not change, but we have to look at alternatives. Those are the mass recruitment of individuals in a volunteer army to clean up.”

Will he perform well if he becomes President? He spoke on his antecedents. Apart from taming the Atlantic which would have killed people, “I led an administration that was so prudent. We raised Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from N600 million to N5 billion a month.”

A hypothetical question put to him that if he wasn’t contesting, would he for either Obi or Abubakar Atiku, of the Labour and Peoples Democratic Party, respectively? He waved the too off, saying: “Non because they are not as competent as any other person out there. They have no track record. None of them is qualified except me.”

What makes him think that he would win? Tinubu said, “I’m very confident that this election, free and fair, I am the frontrunner and that is why I’m getting many arrows.”

What would he do to fix Nigeria? His words: “I’m different. I am Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I have governed Lagos, I built a modern state that could be a country on its own. I have led an administration that is so prudent. From N600 million internally generated revenue to N5 billion a month. That’s a record, nobody else can brag about that.

“I have tamed the Atlantic ocean surge in Nigeria that would have perished many people in Lagos, the infrastructural renewal of Lagos is excellent. I have continuity in Lagos.”