Depoliticise EFCC, Atiku, other opposition leaders warn FG

Leaders of different opposition parties in Nigeria have demanded the depoliticisation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, by the federal government.

The demand was made on Sunday in a statement issued by the politicians including former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; the national chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, David Mark; Chief Bode George of the PDP; presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi; Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and Mallam Lawal Batagarawa.

In the statement, the opposition leaders warned that the operations of the EFCC must be urgently protected from political interference and must not serve the whims and caprices of any president, party or political faction.

They demanded that EFCC must refocus on genuine detection and prevention of economic crimes across board, not selective prosecution, media trials or intimidation of opposition figures.

The opposition leaders also demanded that multiparty democracy must be protected and ensure that opposition leaders were not silenced, coerced or induced into irrelevance.

They stated that the demands, among others, became necessary in view of alleged use of state power by the federal government to persecute perceived political adversaries, with the ultimate aim of weakening opposition voices and dismantling Nigeria’s multiparty democracy.

The statement reads in full:

Anti-Corruption, Not Anti-Opposition: A Joint Statement by Opposition Leaders on the Growing Politicisation of State Institutions for Persecution of the Opposition

We are compelled by duty to nation and conscience to issue this statement to alert our compatriots and the international community to the unfortunate and gradual slide of our country into a state where key national institutions – particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); The Nigeria Police; The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) are increasingly perceived as tools of political intimidation, selective justice and systematic persecution of opposition leaders.

Across our nation, there are mounting concerns 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.

A Dangerous Agenda Unfolding

More than ever before in our democratic experience, Nigerians have witnessed what many now describe as 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. 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. This pattern forms part of a broader project that targets not only elected leaders but also key opposition figures perceived as architects of emerging coalitions ahead of the 2027 general election. We must warn that this project, if allowed to continue unchecked, poses a grave danger to Nigeria’s democratic future.

Weaponisation of the EFCC

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. This disturbing pattern mirrors a long-standing sentiment openly expressed years ago by a former National Chairman of the ruling APC, Adams Oshiomhole, who declared when receiving defectors from the PDP: “Once you have joined APC, all your sins are forgiven.” Whether intended as political rhetoric or not, this statement has come to symbolise a troubling reality: allegations against members of the ruling party are routinely perceived to be overlooked, while even unsubstantiated accusations against opposition figures are vigorously pursued and subjected to media trial.

A few recent examples reinforce this perception. 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. Similarly, another minister remained in office despite the university he claimed to have attended publicly denying his academic certificate. He, too, resigned only after intense public pressure, Months later, no charges have been filed.

Such selective enforcement undermines the legitimacy of anticorruption efforts and erodes public trust. Furthermore, Nigerians are not blind to 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 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.

Erosion of EFCC’s Independence

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. An agency designed for prevention and accountability risks becoming an instrument of political persecution, undermining both justice and democracy. The President must recognise that evident social and political injustice could snowball into mayhem as the nation approaches another election cycle. This trend must be halted immediately if the nation must be spared a major catastrophe.

OUR DEMANDS

Depoliticise EFCC: The operations of the EFCC must be urgently shielded from political interference and must not serve the whims and caprices of any President, party or political faction.
Return EFCC to Its Statutory Mandate: The Commission must refocus on genuine detection and prevention of economic crimes across board, not selective prosecution, media trials or intimidation of opposition figures. For the avoidance of doubt, the Functions and Powers of the Commission are expressly provided for under Sections 6 & 7 respectively.
Defend Multiparty Democracy: Nigerians must remain eternally vigilant to ensure that the President does not transform the country into a de facto one-party state – as witnessed in Lagos over the last 25 years, where opposition leaders were silenced, coerced or induced into irrelevance.
Embed Preventive Anti-Corruption Mechanisms: Relying on the Supreme Court ruling on the powers of the EFCC over all public accounts, for true prevention of financial crimes, anti-graft operatives should be embedded in all the payment processes of governments at all levels to ensure compliance with rules of transparency, accountability and probity in public financial transactions. Put differently, the EFCC must recognise and exercise their function as covering both pre and post expenditure. operatives must also be held accountable for any unreported but later detected economic and financial infractions in their respective areas of oversight. To further strengthen the EFCC, we propose that the EFCC Act should be amended for this purpose.
Establish an Independent Review Body: We call on the Attorney General, in consultation with the National Assembly, to set up an independent review body which should be granted full access to the public accounts of the federal, all states and all local governments covering from 2015 to 2025, with a mandate to conduct a transparent, comprehensive review of financial transactions and publish its findings. Such a review will expose the EFCC’s pattern of selective prosecution of opposition figures and reveal that many current officials of the federal government—and those of ruling-party-controlled states—should have long been prosecuted for economic and financial crimes, but were shielded due to their political affiliation. Based on its findings, the independent body should also propose amendments to EFCC’s enabling law to strengthen the agency for more effective and efficient prevention of financial crimes.

This proposed body is to be chaired by an eminent judge, and composed of the following:

– Representatives from civil society organisations

– Representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association

– Representatives of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria

– Representatives of Institute of Chartered Bankers

– The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit

– Representatives of anti-graft agencies

– Representatives of the Police

– Representatives of the DSS

– Representatives of the Armed Forces

– Representatives of all political parties with a seat in the National Assembly.

A Call to Defend Nigeria’s Democracy

We call on all patriotic Nigerians across party lines, professions, regions and faiths to stand firm. Our democracy is under threat through the deliberate and systematic weakening of opposition forces, with the EFCC as the central instrument in this troubling strategy.

In the coming weeks, we will provide more details, and also engage foreign partners of Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies and diplomatic missions, including United States, UK, Canada, EU, World Bank Office, United Nations, to express our deep concern about the EFCC increasingly becoming a willing tool in a broader scheme to weaken opposition in Nigeria, and also demand a reform of the anti-graft agency.

Nigeria’s democracy demands our vigilance, courage and unity, as Edmund Burke, an Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher, warned: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

We are equally guided by the enduring words of Martin Luther King Jnr: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil ……In the end we shall remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence

of our friends.” Now is the time for all of us to rise in defence of our cherished multiparty

democracy, and indeed, in defence of the very soul of our nation.

We must make a deliberate choice not to be remembered by posterity for our Silence.

Nigeria belongs to all of us – not to a single party or a single leader.

Signed,

Sen. David Mark, GCON

Alh. Atiku Abubakar, GCON

Mallam Lawal Batagawara

Chief Bode George

Mr. Peter Obi, CON

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun

EXTRA: Ade Ori Okin, By Simbo Olorunfemi