Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of weaponising anti-corruption agencies to pressure opposition leaders into defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
He spoke against the backdrop of the detention of former Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over alleged fraudulent withdrawals to the tune of N189 billion.
Atiku in a statement posted on his verified Facebook page yesterday, lamented that the EFCC has been turned into a political tool.
He claimed Tambuwal’s detention was solely because he was a member of the coalition seeking to challenge President Tinubu in the 2027 elections.
He said: “The only reason the EFCC has detained the former governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, is because he is a member of the opposition coalition. It is a continuation of the Tinubu-led administration’s agenda to harass, intimidate and decimate the opposition.
“The reality unfolding before us today is that the Tinubu administration, as with other aspects, has objectified the fight against corruption as a political tool to coerce opposition leaders into the ruling party.
“We are living witnesses to a growing trend where the state and its operators have assumed the roles of a bully by making corruption and the fight against it a political agenda.
“Certainly, that is not the objective for which I worked hard during our administration to create the EFCC.”
He noted that fighting corruption needed everyone’s support, using it as a political weapon must be condemned by the civil society and Nigeria’s international partners.
Stop media trials, allow APC fight its battles, ADC blasts EFCC
Also reacting to Tambuwal’s detention, African Democratic Congress, ADC, warned EFCC against what it described as politicisation of its work, accusing the agency of carrying out media trials to harass and intimidate opposition leaders on behalf of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
In a statement by National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party also flayed the ‘urgent’ investigation into the seven-month tenure of former Imo State governor, Emeka Ihedioha.
While describing the actions as a calculated attempt to discredit opposition figures ahead of the 2027 elections, ADC stated: “A fight against corruption that begins and ends with the opposition is not justice, it is persecution.
EFCC replies ADC
Replying ADC in a statement, EFCC said it is not partisan, stressing that it handles all corruption cases equally, regardless of political ties.
The statement, signed by Dele Oyewale, Head of Media and Publicity, said its investigations were guided by evidence, not politics.
“Fraud is fraud, corruption is corruption. There is no sacred cow, protected interest or partisan consideration in the investigation and prosecution of corruption,” Oyewale said.
The commission dismissed ADC’s claims as ‘self-serving, diversionary, narrow and idle,’ arguing that corruption allegations must be investigated regardless of timing or political context.
“Every corruption allegation deserves to be investigated, and there is no constraint of time and season in criminal investigations,” it stated.
The anti-graft agency also pointed out that it was currently investigating several senior figures from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, including sitting governors and ministers.