Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions of abandoning their core responsibilities and converting the anti-graft campaign into what he termed a “full-blown political witch-hunt.”
In a statement released by his media office and circulated by his adviser, Paul Ibe, on Thursday, Atiku cautioned that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other agencies risk losing public confidence unless they “purge themselves of partisan contamination.”
His remarks follow the arrest and continued detention of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
Atiku argued “that the nation’s anti-corruption war is dangerously sliding off course and mutating into a brazen political witch-hunt.”
He claimed the EFCC is “straying far from the noble principles” on which it was founded, alleging that the agency is now “weaponising its powers to serve narrow political agendas.”
According to him, “The politicisation of corruption investigations has rendered the EFCC’s credibility suspect and rubbished the very ideals that inspired its establishment.”
He also condemned what he called a “selective pursuit” of opposition leaders like Malami, warning that such moves cast the EFCC as “an overzealous appendage” determined to entrench a one-party state.
Atiku said, “EFCC suddenly became hyperactive the moment the African Democratic Congress (ADC) emerged as an opposition force, launching coordinated attacks on key figures such as Malami and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, while conveniently ignoring glaring corruption cases involving allies of the ruling party.
“We expected the EFCC to voice its objection to the appointment of former governors with unresolved corruption allegations. But partisan loyalty prevailed over integrity.”
The former vice president also claimed that had Malami defected to the APC, “the EFCC would have left him untouched, even if he had looted the entire CBN vault.”
Atiku stressed that no responsible nation undermines the autonomy of its anti-corruption bodies in pursuit of political objectives. He urged EFCC leadership to insulate itself from partisan pressure, insisting that its institutional reputation must not be bartered “for the fleeting interests of any political party.”
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