The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of carrying out selective investigations in the guise of fighting corruption, saying it is a sign of dictatorship.
ADC, in a statement issued by the interim National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, warned that this dangerous trend is eroding public trust in the institution and undermining the real fight against corruption.
The party noted that the anti-corruption agency recently reopened closed cases, digging up files from years past, and targeting members of opposition parties.
This, the ADC stated, is not the work of an impartial anti-graft body, but rather “the work of a political enforcer.”
The party disclosed that several senior members of the opposition coalition have received EFCC summons “that are clearly politically motivated,” alleging that the summons were “not fresh cases arising from new evidence but new files opened in reaction to emergent political affiliations to intimidate key opposition figures.”
It recalled that the EFCC was created to be a fearless defender of the Nigerian people’s trust, applying the law evenly to all, friend or foe, ruling party or opposition, but regretted that the vision appears to have been compromised.
“The commission now operates like a department of the APC, deployed to fight government critics and opposition figures, thereby achieving what the government cannot achieve through public debate,” ADC further alleged.
According to the statement, while “opposition figures are dragged before the court of public opinion with sometimes decade-old allegations that have been hastily revived and dressed up as fresh evidence… investigations into ruling party allies quietly fade away.
“This is selective prosecution, and selective prosecution is the death of justice.
“It does appear that in today’s Nigeria, one’s guilt or innocence depends on one’s party membership, not evidence.”
ADC noted that “since a certain former governor defected to the APC with his state’s entire political machinery, the EFCC’s investigations into his administration have vanished from public view.
“Yet the same EFCC still somehow find means to reopen old cases against opposition leaders and pursue the stale allegations against them.”
It added that this does not augur well for the anti-graft agency if people think it singles out only opposition leaders for prosecution while those who align with the ruling party are protected.
ADC therefore, called on Nigerians, civil society organisations, and the independent media to resist this dangerous slide into dictatorship and misuse of public institutions to achieve partisan objectives.
“The EFCC does not belong to the APC. It belongs to the Nigerian people. It is funded by taxpayers, not the ruling party,” the party stated.
