- Insists Tinubu doesn’t control anti-graft agencies
The Presidency has warned opposition politicians against undermining national institutions for cheap political gains, insisting that all anti-corruption agencies are truly independent under the current administration.
Consequently, it dismissed allegations that President Bola Tinubu is subverting multiparty democracy and using the anti-graft bodies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to persecute opposition politicians.
The Presidency’s came on the heels of an alarm raised by some opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Senator David Mark, Peter Obi and others, accusing the Federal Government of using the EFCC and Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to intimidate and persecute opposition politicians.
Reacting to the allegations, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga said the opposition figures were just blowing “hot air, seeking scapegoats for their failure and move to confuse the polity in a desperate search for cheap political gains.”
Onanuga said in a statement that: “None of the people who joined the governing APC was pressured to do so. They all did so of their own free will. They are being motivated by the noticeable gains of President Bola Tinubu’s reform programme.
“We may ask: when politicians were moving in droves to the now-dying Peoples Democratic Party between 2000 and 2015, was Nigeria’s democracy imperilled?”
He also said investigations by the EFCC have begun exposing those with some explanation to give regarding their stewardship in office and management of public funds entrusted to them.
“These politicians now accuse President Tinubu of weaponising the EFCC for political purposes. We must reiterate that the EFCC is an independent institution established by law and empowered to carry out its statutory responsibilities without interference or favour.
“We find it curious that the same people who claimed they want to rescue Nigeria are now the ones waging a war of attrition against accountability and probity. Those who have cases to answer before EFCC should be bold and brave enough to defend themselves if they are clean.”
According to him, President Tinubu has significant state issues to address rather than engage in political targeting, adding: “No one is above the law. Everyone must be accountable for their actions, both in and out of the office.
“Political affiliation should not be a shield against EFCC statutory work, which recently led to Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
“We have taken cognisance of the signatories to the statement. It is instructive that some of them were previously investigated and prosecuted by the EFCC even before President Tinubu took office in 2023″
The FATF Grey List contains countries under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “Increased Monitoring” for significant weaknesses in their financial systems to fight money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing (AML/CFT/P).
It is important to note that countries on this list are actively working with the FATF to resolve these deficiencies within agreed timelines.
