Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed worry that the nation’s anti-corruption war is becoming a political witch-hunt.
Atiku in a statement by his media office, advised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft bodies to purge themselves of partisan contamination before they permanently lose the trust of Nigerians.
The former vice president who was reacting to the arrest and detention of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), accused the EFCC of “straying far from the noble principles upon which it was created.”
It regretted that instead of upholding justice, the agency is now weaponising its powers to serve narrow political agendas.
“The politicisation of corruption investigations has rendered the EFCC’s credibility suspect and rubbished the very ideals that inspired its establishment,” Atiku stated.
He condemned what he described as the selective pursuit of opposition figures like Malami, and warned that such targeted harassment exposes the EFCC as an overzealous appendage of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Atiku expressed shock that “the EFCC suddenly became hyperactive the moment the African Democratic Congress (ADC) emerged as an opposition force, launching coordinated attacks on key figures such as Malami and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, while conveniently ignoring glaring corruption cases involving allies of the ruling party.”
He recalled how former governors with long-standing corruption cases were allegedly rewarded with ministerial and ambassadorial appointments by President Bola Tinubu, “yet the EFCC looked away without protest.
“We expected the EFCC to voice its objection to the appointment of former governors with unresolved corruption allegations. But partisan loyalty prevailed over integrity.”
The former vice president believed that if Malami defected to the APC, the EFCC would have left him untouched, even if he had looted the entire CBN vault.
“Nigerians are watching in disbelief as an agency created to fight corruption willingly turns itself into a lapdog of the ruling APC—used to hound and destabilise credible opposition, while shielding political loyalists from accountability.
“The EFCC, now operating like a political rottweiler, is deployed to intimidate and coerce politicians into joining the APC. And once they bow to pressure, their corruption cases mysteriously vanish,” he added.
