“Who is He When I Am Talking?” Rufai Blasts Primate Ayodele Over Tinubu’s Alleged Drug Case
- Journalist Rufai clashed with a TV host after Primate Ayodele's position on President Tinubu's alleged US drug case was raised on air
- Rufai argued that Tinubu should champion the release of his own records rather than use lawyers to suppress the process
- The commentator questioned what kind of spiritual leader would advise a public figure to conceal his past from Nigerians
PAY ATTENTION: Find it fast with our new search feature at Legit.ng!
Arise Television journalist Rufai Oseni has launched a sharp verbal attack on Primate Ayodele, dismissing the clergyman's stance on President Bola Tinubu's alleged drug case in the United States and questioning his moral authority to speak on the matter.
The clash erupted during a televised discussion when Rufai was challenged about remarks that appeared to contradict Primate Ayodele's position, with the host citing the clergyman's view that Tinubu must not release certain documents. Rufai's response was immediate and blunt.
Source: UGC
"Who is Primate Ayodele when I am talking?" he said, refusing to yield the floor.
Rufai's case against document suppression
Rufai argued that the emergence of what he described as a "new dimension" in the Tinubu drug case had changed the conversation.
He said documents released by the Montague family showed there was a criminal investigation, which he suggested could be connected to an earlier civil forfeiture process — though he noted that the full picture remained unclear because the unredacted records had not been made public.
Rather than Tinubu hiring lawyers to shut down the process, Rufai said the president should be the one pushing for full disclosure, telling the world directly:
"Release whatever they have of me, so that I'll be able to show to the world that is not what a lot of people think."
He extended the same logic to Tinubu's educational background, arguing the president should voluntarily provide details about the schools he attended and his academic records.
Rufai: 'Which kind of shepherd Is he?'
Rufai turned his sharpest criticism on Primate Ayodele, repeatedly questioning what kind of man of God would counsel a leader to hide his past from citizens.
"Which kind of shepherd tells people to hide their past when it concerns a nation? Which kind of shepherd is saying somebody should do everything to crush a case where integrity has to come?" he asked, visibly agitated.
He told the host that Nigerians already suffer reputational damage internationally because of the controversy surrounding Tinubu, saying people in other countries make "side jokes" about Nigeria over the back-and-forth of a sitting president being linked to a drug case in a foreign court.
"Do you know what it does to us?" he said, arguing that whatever a president does reflects on every Nigerian citizen.
He concluded that he was speaking to the "morality of a nation, the strength of a nation," and said Ayodele was entitled to his opinion, but so was he.
Lawyer: Why US is yet to release Tinubu’s record
Previously, Legit.ng reported that a member of President Bola Tinubu's legal team in the United States, Wole Afolabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said that if credible evidence of drug dealing existed against the president, American authorities would have moved to indict, arrest, and prosecute him long ago.
Afolabi explained that US agencies had already released thousands of pages of documents to Greenspan.
Source: Legit.ng
