IN A DRAMATIC escalation of Nigeria’s political tensions, a coalition of the nation’s most prominent opposition leaders has accused the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration of a systematic and dangerous strategy to dismantle multi-party democracy by transforming key anti-corruption and security agencies into instruments of political persecution.
But the Presidency, in a swift and scathing rebuttal, dismissed the opposition leaders as ‘failed’ politicians engaging in ‘subterfuge’ and an ‘empty search for scapegoats.’
While the opposition elements portray their intervention as an existential fight for democracy itself, the Presidency casts the outcry as a transparent ploy by embattled figures to evade legal accountability.
The confrontation was triggered by a joint statement signed by a formidable array of political figures including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President David Mark, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023 general election and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, and elder statesman Chief Bode George, among others.
The opposition leaders presented a sweeping indictment of the current political climate, centred on what they termed the “growing politicisation” of institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigeria Police, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
“We are compelled by duty to nation and conscience to alert our compatriots… to the unfortunate and gradual slide of our country into a state where key national institutions are increasingly perceived as tools of political intimidation, selective justice and systematic persecution of opposition leaders,” the statement declared.
It painted a picture of a “covert, undemocratic agenda” to ensure all state governments fall under the control of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), not through elections, but by “secretly intimidating opposition governors via the anti-corruption apparatus until they succumb and defect.”
The opposition leaders pointed to recent defections of governors to the APC as evidence of this pressure, warning that the project “poses a grave danger to Nigeria’s democratic future.”
They accused the EFCC of a “discernible pattern of persecution,” citing what they see as a glaring double standard.
They also highlighted cases where former ministers embroiled in public scandals had resigned but faced no EFCC prosecution, with one now actively involved in the President’s re-election campaign.
This, they argued, validates a past statement by former APC Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, that “Once you have joined APC, all your sins are forgiven.”
The coalition issued a five-point demand; calling for depoliticisation of the EFCC, a return to its statutory mandate, and the embedding of preventive anti-corruption mechanisms within all government payment processes.
Most significantly, they demanded the establishment of an independent review body, chaired by an eminent judge and comprising civil society and professional groups, to conduct a transparent audit of all federal, state, and local government accounts from 2015 to date. This, they asserted, would expose the pattern of selective prosecution.
They vowed to “engage foreign partners of Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies and diplomatic missions,” including the US, UK, and UN, to express concern about the EFCC becoming “a willing tool in a broader scheme to weaken opposition.”
Presidency Responds
The Presidency, in its response via a statement signed by Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, framed the opposition statement as the desperate act of a “dying political party” and “failed political office aspirants” blowing “hot air” in search of “cheap political gains.”
“None of the people who joined the governing APC was pressured to do so. They all did so of their own free will,” Onanuga stated, describing the defections as endorsement of President Tinubu’s reforms.
Onanuga defended the EFCC’s independence, noting that: “The agency’s mandate is to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, irrespective of the personalities involved.”
The Presidency turned the allegations back on the signatories, noting pointedly that some of them had been investigated or prosecuted by the EFCC long before President Tinubu took office and that others had been “indicted in international financial probes for money laundering.”
“Are they now signing statements because their chickens are coming home to roost?”, Onanuga queried, as he advised the politicians not to “undermine the integrity of our nation’s institutions” by “weaponising politics to escape accountability.”
