Atiku Accuses Tinubu Administration of Using EFCC to Intimidate Opposition

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of weaponising Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight to target and weaken opposition figures, describing the detention of former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, as politically motivated.

In a statement personally signed by him, Atiku alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was being used as an instrument of harassment against political rivals.

“The only reason the EFCC has detained the former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Waziri 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 former presidential candidate claimed that the anti-corruption campaign under the current government had deviated from its intended purpose and had become a coercive tool to pressure opposition leaders into joining the ruling party.

“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,” he said.

Atiku, who served as Nigeria’s Vice President between 1999 and 2007, expressed disappointment that the EFCC — which he said he worked to establish during his tenure — was now being used for partisan purposes.

“Certainly, that is not the objective for which I worked hard during our administration to create the EFCC,” he stated.

He further alleged that there is now “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,” adding that anyone in opposition risked facing “phantom corruption allegations” unless they aligned with the ruling party.

“It is as though today, anyone who associates with the opposition is a target for phantom corruption allegations and, it is as though, as soon as they are coerced into the political agenda of President Tinubu, their ‘sins’ are forgiven. That, definitely, is not how to build institutions. That, certainly, is not how to fight the monster of corruption. Indeed, such tendencies provide the stimulant for corruption to thrive.”

According to him, the EFCC has been repeatedly used to pressure opposition governors to defect, warning that the trend poses a threat to Nigeria’s democracy.

“We have seen how the EFCC has been used to empty opposition state governors into the ruling party, and the tea party is not about to end anytime soon,” Atiku said.

While reaffirming his support for a genuine fight against corruption, he called on Nigerians, civil society, and the international community to resist what he described as the politicisation of anti-corruption agencies.

“While the genuine fight against corruption is a matter that requires the total support of all Nigerians, the objectification of it as a political agenda should be roundly condemned by all in civil society spaces and friends of Nigeria in the international community.

We have in recent times witnessed the use of anti-corruption agencies in coercing political leaders into the ruling party. Our assurance to Nigerians is that we would never succumb to this anti-democratic machinations of railroading our people into a one-party dictatorship.”