Former senator, Babafemi Ojudu has revealed how President Bola Tinubu secretly recorded a Jewish lawyer detailing the massive looting orchestrated by former military ruler Sani Abacha in the 1990s.

Ojudu shared the account during an interview with Edmund Obilo while discussing his book, Adventures of A Guerrilla Journalist.

Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from 1993 to 1998, is estimated to have diverted around $5 billion into foreign accounts, including banks in the United States, United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Over the years, the Nigerian government has been working to recover the stolen funds.

Recounting his experience as a journalist in exile, Ojudu said he met Tinubu in the UK, where the latter introduced him to the Jewish lawyer.

The lawyer, according to Ojudu, promised to provide critical information on Abacha’s corruption and those complicit in the looting.

In a surprising twist, Ojudu revealed that Tinubu excused himself midway through the meeting, claiming he needed to use the bathroom. Unknown to the lawyer, Tinubu used the brief absence to switch the recording tape in the device capturing their discussion.

He said, “I was excited as a newsman. We went there and sat before the lawyer. He (the lawyer) kept reeling out how Abacha was stealing, and who was helping him.

“The name that was constantly mentioned was the Chagoury brothers. I was so excited but I felt so bad that because I couldn’t write. I needed to take notes. I kept trying to memorise whatever I could.

“Midway to the engagement, our brother (Tinubu) excused himself to go to the bathroom and came back. After about two hours, the engagement came to an end and we hailed a taxi to return to his house.

“While there, I said what you took me to listen to today was super exclusive but unfortunately I will have to talk to you when we get home so that if you remember some things I will note them down.

“He said to me: Don’t worry yourself. I had a tape recorder with me. That time I went to the bathroom, I went to change the recording from side one to side two. That is why I flushed the toilet so that the man would not know that I was changing the tape.”

Ojudu described Tinubu as a “strategist” who would do whatever it took to achieve his goals.

He, however, said Tinubu tried to stop the story from being published.

“He (Tinubu) is a strategist. He does what he has to do to get what he has to get. I love to work with people like that, who will always find a solution,” Ojudu added.

He stated, “We got home and ate. He was on the couch and slept off. I rifled through him and took the tape and then woke him and said I was leaving.

“About 8pm when I got to my hotel, I quickly changed my flight to the following morning.

“He (Tinubu) called me at 8pm and said: Femi where are you, I can’t find that tape. I said it was with me. He said: what are you doing with it? I said I am going home tomorrow to publish it. He said if you publish it; you are dead. I said I would publish it and let them kill me.

“So, I got back to Nigeria and played the tape to some of my staff, gave them assignments on what they should check and we ran the story. It was a story that shook Abacha.”