Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to release former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai if Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies are truly subject to presidential directives.
Atiku’s remarks came in response to President Tinubu’s directive ordering the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to return to court and vacate the order freezing the bank accounts of the Osun State Government. According to the former Vice President, the President’s intervention contradicts repeated claims that Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies operate independently.
In a statement released on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that Tinubu’s action had exposed what he described as the “myth” surrounding the EFCC’s operational independence.
He also questioned the President’s claim that the EFCC obtained a court order before freezing Osun State’s accounts, noting that the commission’s public statement never mentioned such judicial approval.
“President Tinubu’s statement has raised more questions than it has answered,” Atiku said.
“While the EFCC’s official statement painstakingly explained why it froze the Osun State Government’s account, it made no mention whatsoever of obtaining a court order.
“Yet the President’s intervention is predicated entirely on the existence of such a court order, which he claims to have directed the EFCC to vacate.
“If indeed there was a court order, why did the EFCC omit such a fundamental fact from its official account? If there was none, then the President has introduced into the public discourse a legal process that exists nowhere in the EFCC’s own narrative.”
The former Vice President maintained that the President could not deny involvement in the operational affairs of the EFCC while simultaneously issuing instructions directing the commission to discontinue an enforcement action.
“He cannot claim that he neither knew of nor interferes in the operations of the EFCC and, in the very next breath, announce that he has directed the commission to discontinue its action and return to court,” Atiku said.
“If the EFCC promptly complies with that directive, then Nigerians have before them undeniable proof that the commission is not as operationally independent as the President wants the country to believe.”
Atiku further argued that the President’s intervention had created both a constitutional and moral obligation that should not be applied selectively.
“Having now demonstrated that he can issue direct operational directives to anti-corruption agencies whenever he considers it expedient, President Tinubu owes Nigerians an explanation as to why he cannot exercise the same authority in the case of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai,” he said.
“If he can direct the EFCC to discontinue its action today, then he cannot pretend to be powerless over the actions of the ICPC tomorrow.
“Executive power cannot be invoked selectively for political convenience while institutional independence is cited only when it suits the Presidency.”
El-Rufai has remained in ICPC custody since February 19 over allegations of financial misconduct linked to his tenure as Governor of Kaduna State between 2015 and 2023.
The anti-graft agency later arraigned the former governor before the Kaduna High Court on April 13, where he faces an amended nine-count charge bordering on alleged fraud and abuse of office.
Atiku also contended that although the decision to reverse the freezing of Osun State’s accounts might reduce political tension ahead of the August 15 governorship election, it failed to answer critical questions surrounding the original decision.
“The unanswered questions remain: who authorised the freezing of the account of an opposition-controlled state just days before a governorship election, and why was such an extraordinary action taken at such a politically sensitive moment?” he said.
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