- Urges anti-corruption agency to halt the trend
By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has raised the alarm that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is out on a hatchet job through a choreographed media trial, political manoeuvres and cynical attempts to intimidate and weaken credible opposition voices ahead of the 2027 elections.
The moves, the ADC added, are also targeted at bringing the coalition leaders to disrepute.
The coalition party raised the alarm in a statement on Tuesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.
The ADC claimed that the EFCC is being used by the government to harass and intimidate opposition party leaders.
The party cited the instances of the Monday’s overnight detention of one of the leaders of the coalition and former Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, and the invitation to Imo State Government officials to “urgently” provide information on the seven-month tenure of former Imo State Governor, Emeka Ihedioha among others.
The ADC also questioned why the EFCC had suddenly found “urgent” reason to investigate David Mark (the interim National Chairman of the party) ten (10) years after leaving the Senate Presidency, Ihedioha more than 5 years after his brief tenure as governor, and Tambuwal 2 years after leaving office as Sokoto governor.
The party said the pattern of ignoring APC stalwarts with fresher and well-documented cases, while targeting opposition figures with stale allegations,
while targeting opposition figures with stale allegations, is proof of selective justice and an assault on political freedom.
The party argued that a fight against corruption that begins and ends with the opposition is not justice, saying that such is a persecution.
The ADC stated that it has no doubts that “this is witch-hunting; it is the APC government weaponising anti-corruption to do its political battle”.
The statement noted that having failed to stop the coalition, the jittery ruling party’s next move is to discredit its leaders by getting the EFCC to accuse them of looting the entire treasuries. “These”, the ADC maintained, “are calculated media trials, which start and end with the accusation, the scandal, and the consequent lowering of public estimation”.
The statement my the ADC National Publicity Secretary reads in full, “Following our earlier release on Monday, in which we alerted Nigerians about the plan to deploy the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a political weapon by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), we wish to bring to the public’s attention fresh details that expose the extent of this coordinated assault on the opposition.
“The detention of one of our leaders, former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, has marked the start of the crackdown intended to intimidate key leaders of the opposition and discredit them through media trials.
“As shown in an EFCC correspondence currently circulating online, the Commission has now embarked on the investigation of another coalition chieftain, former Imo Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, with an “urgent” request to the officials to provide information related specifically to his brief seven months in office.
“Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, served as Governor of Imo State for just 7 months, from May 29, 2019, until the Supreme Court removed him on January 14, 2020 — a full 5 years and 7 months ago.
“We therefore wonder what makes investigating him suddenly ‘urgent’ now.
“Most notably, the EFCC has now surreptitiously started excavating all the files from the ADC Chairman, Senator David Mark’s tenure as President of the Nigerian Senate.
“Let us remind Nigerians that our Party Chairman, Senator Mark, served as the Senate President for 8 years, from June 6, 2007, to June 6, 2015 — making him the longest-serving Senate President in our history.
“He left office 10 years and 2 months ago. Three Senate Presidents after, the EFCC suddenly remembered that he was a Senate President.
“While the ADC, as a party, stands for adherence to the rule of law and due process, like all Nigerians, we question the curious timing, selective targets, and political motivations that now seem to define the EFCC’s actions.
“A fight against corruption that begins and ends with the opposition is not justice — it is persecution.
“We have no doubts that this is witch-hunting; it is the APC government weaponising anti-corruption to do its political battle.
“Having failed to stop the coalition, the jittery ruling party’s next move is to discredit its leaders by getting the EFCC to accuse them of looting the entire treasuries.
“These are calculated media trials, which start and end with the accusation, the scandal, and the consequent lowering of public estimation. It matters little whether there is a basis for these accusations — the game is the circus show.
“The questions write themselves: why now? Why these men? Why these timelines? If corruption truly has no statute of limitation, why are the EFCC’s files on APC’s own “big men,” many with fresher, documented cases, gathering dust in forgotten drawers? Why does the EFCC only discover “urgent” anti-corruption zeal when an opposition leader becomes a political threat?
“The truth is simple. These are not fresh investigations — they are political manoeuvres, cynical attempts to intimidate and weaken credible opposition voices ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The APC’s EFCC does not touch its own while they are in office or when they defect to the ruling party. Once a former governor crosses over, their files vanish like morning dew.
“Since Ifeanyi Okowa joined the APC, have Nigerians heard a single whisper from the EFCC about his cases? Yet opposition leaders are hounded with allegations from decades past without a shred of new evidence.
“Let this be on record: what the EFCC is doing on behalf of the APC government is anti-democracy. Every time the EFCC is deployed as a political bulldog, it tramples on public trust and shreds the credibility of our justice system.
“We remind the APC that state institutions do not belong to the ruling party — they belong to Nigerians.
“We call on citizens to speak up, to resist, and to demand that the EFCC stop this witch-hunting in the interest of our democracy.
“Today, it is David Mark, Ihedioha, and Tambuwal. Tomorrow, it could be anyone who dares to hold this government accountable”, the statement by the ADC ended.
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