Atiku Frowns At Tambuwal’s Arrest

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, says that President Bola Tinubu is weaponising anti-corruption agencies to put pressure on opposition leaders so that they can defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Atiku, in a statement he posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday, lamented that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has become a political tool.

It is worth recalling that on Monday, the EFCC detained former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, for alleged financial misconduct, and the agency also invited former Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha over corruption allegations in his brief tenure.

Reacting, Atiku alleged that the detention of Tambuwal was because he is a member of the coalition trying 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 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 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.”

Atiku also disclosed that fighting corruption needs the support of everyone and shouldn’t be used as a political weapon.

The statement read in part, “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 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

“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.

“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.”

Atiku assured that opposition leaders would oppose any anti-democratic attempts to turn the country into a one-party dictatorship.

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