Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised concern that Nigeria’s anti-corruption campaign is being weaponised for partisan purposes under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

In a statement issued by his media office, Atiku advised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies to purge themselves of political interference or risk losing the trust of Nigerians permanently.

The former vice president, reacting to the arrest and detention of former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), accused the EFCC of abandoning the principles on which it was founded.

He lamented that the agency, instead of upholding justice, is now allegedly being used to pursue narrow political agendas.

“The politicisation of corruption investigations has rendered the EFCC’s credibility suspect and rubbished the very ideals that inspired its establishment,” Atiku said.

He criticised what he described as the selective targeting of opposition figures such as Malami, warning that the pattern portrays the EFCC as an overzealous extension of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Atiku expressed shock that the EFCC “became hyperactive the moment the African Democratic Congress (ADC) emerged as an opposition force,” launching what he called coordinated actions against key figures like Malami and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, while ignoring alleged corruption involving allies of the ruling party.

He recalled instances where former governors with pending corruption cases were reportedly rewarded with ministerial and ambassadorial appointments by President Tinubu, yet the EFCC “looked away without objection.”

Atiku further alleged that Malami would have been spared if he had defected to the APC, even “if he had looted the entire CBN vault.”

“Nigerians are watching in disbelief as an agency created to fight corruption willingly turns itself into a lapdog of the ruling APC, used to hound credible opposition while shielding political loyalists,” he added.

Atiku also accused the EFCC of using intimidation to compel politicians to join the ruling party, claiming that corruption cases often “disappear” once individuals align with the APC.