Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has questioned the operational independence of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies following President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to vacate the reported court order freezing the Osun State Government’s bank accounts.
Atiku also challenged the President to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to release former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, if he truly possesses the authority to issue operational directives to anti-corruption agencies.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president argued that President Tinubu’s intervention has raised fresh concerns about the independence of the EFCC.
“President Tinubu’s statement has raised more questions than it has answered. 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,” the statement read.
Atiku questioned the apparent contradiction between the President’s statement and the EFCC’s account of events.
“If indeed there was a court order, why did the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (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. Nigerians deserve a coherent explanation instead of conflicting versions from the same government.”
The former vice president maintained that the President cannot simultaneously claim that the EFCC operates independently while issuing directives on its operational decisions.
“President Tinubu cannot have it both ways. 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. 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.”
He added, “One cannot preach institutional independence while exercising direct operational control over the same institution. Institutions cannot be independent only when it is politically convenient and subject to presidential directives whenever controversy arises. That is not institutional autonomy; it is executive control disguised as independence.”
Atiku further argued that if the President has the power to direct the EFCC, he should exercise similar authority over other anti-corruption agencies.
“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. 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.”
He warned that the controversy goes beyond the freezing of the Osun State Government’s accounts and could undermine public confidence in Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions.
“The real casualty is the credibility of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions and the rule of law itself. Nigerians deserve institutions that are genuinely independent—not institutions that are portrayed as independent until the Presidency decides otherwise.”
While acknowledging that reversing the freezing order could ease concerns surrounding the forthcoming Osun governorship election, Atiku insisted that critical questions about the circumstances leading to the action remain unanswered.
“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? Nigerians deserve answers. Democracy is not measured by the ability to reverse an injustice after public outrage; it is measured by the discipline to prevent such injustice from occurring in the first place,” the statement added.
