Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President, has reacted to the detention of former Sokoto State governor, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Speaking in a statement issued via his verified X handle on Tuesday, Atiku alleged that Tambuwal, a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, is politically motivated.
Atiku, who recently defected to the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) claimed the arrest was part of a strategy by the Tinubu-led administration to harass and weaken the opposition.
He accused Tinubu’s government of using the fight against corruption as a political tool to coerce opposition leaders into joining the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Atiku further said he was instrumental in the creation of the EFCC during his tenure, condemning what he described as the agency’s use for partisan purposes, warning that such actions undermine institutional integrity and encourage corruption.
READ ALSO
The former vice president alleged that anti-corruption agencies have recently been deployed to pressure political leaders into defecting to the APC, warning that the trend could lead to a “one-party dictatorship.”
He urged Nigerians, civil society organisations, and the international community to condemn the politicisation of the anti-graft fight.
“It is as though anyone who associates with the opposition is a target for phantom corruption allegations, and as soon as they are coerced into the political agenda of President Bola 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.
“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 these anti-democratic machinations of railroading our people into a one-party dictatorship,” Atiku wrote.
