The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) holding of Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, a past governor of Sokoto State and a well-known person in the opposition group, made a lot of political trouble yesterday, as past Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which is in charge of the group, said the anti-corruption group was being used politically by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
But the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said no to what he called turning the investigation of Tambuwal by the commission into a political issue, saying that the ADC’s complaints were only for their own good.
Tambuwal, who was let go on Tuesday, was held on Monday, and at the same time, the EFCC asked past governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha, to come in. Both are very important people in the new opposition group.
In a public announcement on Tuesday, ADC National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi claimed that “it is now very obvious that the EFCC is trying to destroy people’s reputations, a carefully planned media attack meant to make coalition leaders look bad.”
The party wondered why the agency had suddenly discovered “pressing” reasons to investigate its national chairman, former Senate President David Mark, ten years after he left his position; Ihedioha, more than five years after he was governor; and Tambuwal, two years after he stopped being the governor of Sokoto.
According to the ADC, the EFCC’s “way of ignoring important APC members with new and well-recorded cases, while going after opposition members with old accusations” showed unfair justice and “an attack on the freedom to participate in politics.” It stated that Tambuwal’s arrest showed “the beginning of a campaign to scare key leaders of the opposition and ruin their names through media coverage.”
“While the ADC supports following the law and proper procedures, we are suspicious of the strange timing, specific targets, and political reasons that seem to be behind the EFCC’s actions,” the party stated. “A fight against corruption that only focuses on the opposition is not fair; it is oppression. We are sure this is a witch hunt: the APC government is using anti-corruption efforts to fight its political battles.”
Abdullahi mentioned that the current investigations are insincere attempts to scare and weaken trustworthy opposition voices before the 2027 elections.
“The APC’s EFCC does not bother its own members while they are in power or when they switch to the ruling party,” he stated.
“As soon as a former governor switches sides, their case files disappear completely. Since Ifeanyi Okowa joined the APC, have Nigerians heard anything from the EFCC about his cases? However, opposition leaders are chased with accusations from many years ago without any new proof.”
He added, “Every time the EFCC is used as a political weapon, it damages public trust and ruins the reliability of our justice system. Government organizations do not belong to the ruling party; they belong to all Nigerians.”
FG using EFCC to bully opposition figures – Atiku
Atiku Abubakar also claimed that the APC federal government was using the EFCC to scare and pressure those against them to join the party in power.
In a statement on his social media accounts, Atiku mentioned that holding Tambuwal and other people from the opposition was “a continuation of what Tinubu’s government is doing to bother, scare, and get rid of the opposition.”
He claimed that the government had “used” the fight against corruption as a political tool to force leaders from other parties to join them.
“It seems like anyone who is connected to the opposition is a target for made-up claims of corruption,” Atiku said. “And once they are forced to go along with President Tinubu’s political plans, their ‘mistakes’ are forgiven.”
He warned that this method would hurt the growth of institutions and make corruption worse. “We have seen how the EFCC has been used to make governors from opposition states join the ruling party, and this unfair game is not ending soon,” he said.
Atiku, a leader in the group against the government, promised Nigerians that they “would never give in to these undemocratic tricks of forcing our people into a one-party system.”
Also sharing his thoughts, Peter Obi, who ran for president with the Labour Party before, asked the EFCC to make sure that Nigeria’s fight against corruption is clear and honest to be successful.
Obi, who is also a leader in the opposition group, said this situation shows problems with how the country is trying to fight corruption.
“The fight against corruption in our country must be clear to be successful. The EFCC’s arrest and questioning of the former governor of Sokoto State, Rt Hon Aminu Tambuwal, has shown a problem in the fight against corruption,” he wrote on X, previously known as Twitter, on Tuesday.
Obi said that honesty among leaders is important to stop corruption and asked that anti-corruption laws be used fairly for everyone, no matter their political party.
“I hope for a time when the fight against corruption in this country will be under one law that applies to everyone, no matter who is involved, and not just target political opponents or people the current government sees as enemies,” he stated.
The former governor of Anambra State urged anti-corruption groups to act honestly and follow the law, using evidence and facts instead of “guesses and assumptions.”
“In an honest fight against corruption, the public must believe that the rules are fair and that people are not chosen unfairly for political reasons. A Nigeria without corruption is only possible if our fight is clear,” he added.
Your attack on anti-graft agency self-serving, EFCC replies
The EFCC answered, calling the ADC’s complaints “selfish, misleading, limited, and pointless,” and said that no political group could stop it from doing its job.
Olukoyede, using EFCC speaker Dele Oyewale, said that the group had also asked questions of past and present APC leaders.
He stated, “If I am not criticized for looking into past and present leaders from the party in power, I should not be criticized for looking into people from opposing parties too.”
He stated that claims of corruption should be looked into no matter when they took place.
He said, “There are no time limits in criminal investigations,” and added that many politicians from all different parties are being charged in court.
Olukoyede emphasized that many current governors from different parties were also being watched by the EFCC, and he said again that “the way to avoid being investigated by the EFCC is to be responsible and honest.”
He reminded the ADC of its own words that the EFCC “belongs to the people of Nigeria” and is paid for by them. “If a person is innocent, they have nothing to fear from the EFCC,” he said. “The ‘opposition figures’ that the ADC is trying to protect know that they are in trouble and that is why they were asked to come in.”
The EFCC leader said that “no one is untouchable” and asked Nigerians to ignore “political talk meant to stir up trouble and take attention away from the looting of the country’s money.”
Tambuwal granted bail after interrogation
In the meantime, the previous governor of Sokoto State was let go from the EFCC’s holding on Tuesday, Daily Trust can verify.
Tambuwal, who was kept on Monday at the commission’s main office in Abuja, is said to have wrongly taken out around N189 billion when he was in his position.
He had come to the EFCC when asked at about 11:16 a.m. on Monday but was kept there after supposedly not answering questions he was asked.
Confirming he was released, an EFCC investigator said Tambuwal had been given bail by the people in charge and would be able to go after meeting what was needed for his bail.
“We got what we needed from him, and he will soon go from our main office after finishing his bail requirements,” the person said.
When asked if the previous governor would be charged with something, the official didn’t want to say.
EFCC speaker Dele Oyewale didn’t answer phone calls or texts asking for a response by the time this was written.
