Tambuwal: Atiku accuses Tinubu of using EFCC to target opposition

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration of turning Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight into a political weapon aimed at silencing and weakening the opposition

He described the detention of former Sokoto State Governor and current senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, as a politically motivated act.

In a statement personally signed by him, Atiku alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was being deployed as a tool 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,” he said.

The former presidential candidate claimed that the current anti-corruption campaign had strayed from its true purpose and was now being used to coerce opposition leaders into defecting to the ruling party. He expressed disappointment that the EFCC, which he said he helped establish during his time as Vice President, was now serving partisan interests.

Atiku alleged a growing trend in which the state targets opposition figures with “phantom corruption allegations,” only to drop the accusations once they align with the government’s political agenda. “That is not how to build institutions. That is not how to fight the monster of corruption. Such tendencies only encourage corruption to thrive,” he warned.

He further accused the EFCC of being instrumental in pushing opposition governors to defect, warning that the practice threatens Nigeria’s democracy. While affirming his support for a genuine anti-corruption fight, Atiku urged Nigerians, civil society, and the international community to resist the politicisation of anti-corruption agencies, warning against what he called a slide toward a one-party state.

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