Atiku, Obi, Mark allege witch-hunt
A row broke out yesterday over the activities of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and security agencies.
Leaders of opposition parties accused the Federal Government of weaponising the anti-corruption agencies to silence dissent.
They alleged that the government was using the institutions to oppress opposition governors so that they could defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
But, taking an exception to the allegation, the Presidency said in a statement by the Presidential Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, that the opposition leaders are trying to undermine the anti-graft institutions through subterfuge, scapegoating and politicisation of accountability in a bid to escape scrutiny.
Some prominent politicians, including members of the ruling and opposition parties, have been invited for questioning over their roles in previous administrations.
They include former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and Dr. Chris Ngige.
According to the opposition leaders, the anti-corruption bodies have become willing tools in the hands of the government to witchhunt those opposed to government policies and programmes.
In a statement, the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Mallam Aliyu Batagarawa; Peopels Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Bode George, former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, complained about the alleged victimisation of the opposition.
It’s empty search for scapegoats, says Presidency
Onanuga, in a statement titled: ‘A failed opposition engaging in subterfuge and empty search for scapegoats,’ chided the opposition elements for undermining legitimate and democratic institutions.
The statement reads: “Nigeria’s so-called opposition politicians, comprising some of those left in a dying political party and a sprinkling of some failed political office aspirants regrouping in a platform struggling to find its bearings, are amusing lots.
“They blow hot air, seek scapegoats for their failure and move to confuse the polity in a desperate search for cheap political gains.
“On Sunday, a group of opposition figures gathered to sing their familiar tune, hoping their cheerleaders would see their action as a blistering attack from a seemingly virile opposition group.
“They alleged a threat to multi-party democracy because many top politicians are joining the governing All Progressives Congress of their own free will. Our constitution guarantees freedom of association and affords our people the right to change their political leanings at any time of their choosing.
“None of the people who joined the governing APC was pressured to do so. They all did so of their own free will. They are being motivated by the noticeable gains of President Bola Tinubu’s reform programme.
“We may ask: when politicians were moving in droves to the now-dying Peoples Democratic Party between 2000 and 2015, was Nigeria’s democracy imperilled?
“Also, investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have begun exposing those with some explanation to give regarding their stewardship in office and management of public funds entrusted to them. These politicians now accuse President Tinubu of weaponising the EFCC for political purposes.
“While the Presidency does not speak for the EFCC and believes the agency can speak for itself, we must reiterate that the EFCC is an independent institution established by law and empowered to carry out its statutory responsibilities without interference or favour.
“The agency’s mandate is to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, irrespective of the personalities involved, their political affiliations, or their positions in society. We find it curious that the same people who claimed they want to rescue Nigeria are now the ones waging a war of attrition against accountability and probity. Those who have cases to answer before EFCC should be bold and brave enough to defend themselves if they are clean.
“President Tinubu does not issue directives to any anti-corruption agency on whom to investigate, arrest, or prosecute.
“President Tinubu has significant state issues to address rather than engage in political targeting.
“The prosecution is conducted by the court, not by any sleight of hand, and those found not guilty will receive a clean bill of health.
“Allegations of “weaponisation” are distractions from these politicians, who are running short of campaign issues to challenge President Tinubu and the APC’s success in less than three years in office.
“No one is above the law. Everyone must be accountable for their actions, both in and out of the office. Political affiliation should not be a shield against EFCC statutory work, which recently led to Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list.
“We have taken cognisance of the signatories to the statement. It is instructive that some of them were previously investigated and prosecuted by the EFCC even before President Tinubu took office in 2023.
“Some of these politicians have also been indicted in international financial probes for money laundering, with some of their accomplices jailed in foreign lands.
“Are they now signing statements because their chickens are coming home to roost?
“We advise those politicians not to undermine the integrity of our nation’s institutions and the collective resolve to fight corruption by weaponising politics to escape accountability and encourage impunity.
“The fight against corruption is a collective responsibility and should not be trivialised by baseless allegations, jaundiced or politicised narratives.”
Atiku, Obi, Mark: Tinubu trying to silence us
The opposition leaders alleged that the Federal Government is using anti-corruption and security agencies against them, warning that multi-party democracy is threatened ahead of 2027 polls.
They said the EFCC, (ICPC), the Police and other security agencies have becomes tools of political intimidation, selective justice and systematic persecution
They said concerns are mounting across the country that state power is being deployed “not for prevention of economic crimes, but for persecution of perceived political adversaries with the ultimate aim of weakening opposition voices and dismantling Nigeria’s multiparty democracy.”
According to them, Nigerians are witnessing “a covert undemocratic agenda to ensure that all state governments fall under the control of the President’s party, not through transparent electoral contests, but by secretly intimidating opposition governors via the anti-corruption apparatus until they succumb and defect.”
The opposition leaders said the recent defections of opposition governors into the ruling party have “reinforced public suspicion that political pressure, not ideological or personal persuasion, is driving this realignment.
They insisted that the alleged agenda also targets “key opposition figures perceived as architects of emerging coalitions ahead of the 2027 general election”.
They said: “This project, if allowed to continue unchecked, poses a grave danger to Nigeria’s democratic future.”
Flaying the government for weaponising the anti-graft bodies, they also said: “There is a discernible pattern of persecution of the opposition by the EFCC with the sole objective of weakening same for the benefit of the ruling APC”.
They added: “Months ago a minister was implicated in a financial scandal so blatant that only sustained public outrage forced her resignation yet long after stepping down she has neither been charged nor arraigned by the EFCC and is now actively involved in the President’s re-election campaign.
“Another minister remained in office despite the university he claimed to have attended, publicly denying his academic certificate, although he later resigned months later; no charges have been filed.
“Nigerians are witnessing the sudden empowerment of certain political actors. including individuals appointed to federal executive positions after crossing from the opposition, but still claim to be members of the opposition party whose unstated mandate in the public’s eyes appears to include the systematic destabilisation of opposition parties through the creation of factions, inducement and the exploitation of judicial processes allegedly funded by state resources.”
“The EFCC is a critical national institution created to safeguard Nigeria’s economic integrity yet today many Nigerians fear that its independence is steadily being eroded.”
They cautioned that an agency established for prevention and prosecution of economic crimes risks losing public confidence if it is widely perceived as “an instrument of partisan politics rather than a neutral enforcer of the law.”
The opposition leaders called on Nigerian civil society groups and the international community to remain vigilant, insisting that the fight against corruption must be rooted in fairness, transparency and due process.
They said only an impartial application of the law can preserve Nigeria’s democracy restore confidence in public institutions and ensure that anticorruption efforts serve the national interest rather than partisan political ends.
