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Claims anti-graft agency acting as APC’s hit squad
We’re not partisan – Commission
Coalition leadership should first regularise position with INEC – APC
From Romanus Ugwu, Ndubuisi Orji and Sola Ojo, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of intimidating opposition politicians ahead of the 2027 polls.
The ADC, in a statement by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, yesterday, claimed the commission was engaging in selective investigations, targeting opposition members while sparing ruling party chieftains.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have dismissed the claim.
Notwithstanding, ADC accused the anti-graft agency of acting as a hit squad of the ruling party in the run-up to the next general elections.
It alleged that the Commission’s recent pattern of reopening closed cases and pursuing decade-old allegations is not the work of an impartial anti-graft body.”
“These are not fresh cases arising from new evidence but files opened in reaction to emergent political affiliations to intimidate key opposition figures,” the statement reads.
“The EFCC was created to be a fearless defender of the Nigerian people’s trust, applying the law evenly to all — friend or foe, ruling party or opposition. Today, that vision appears to have been compromised.”
The coalition claimed that investigations into ruling party members “fade away quietly” while opposition figures are dragged before the court of public opinion.
Abdullahi cited the case of a former governor whose probe allegedly disappeared from public view after defecting to the APC with his political structure.
“The EFCC was created to be a fearless defender of the Nigerian people’s trust, applying the law evenly to all, friend or foe, ruling party or opposition. Today, that vision appears to have been compromised.
“The Commission now operates like a department of the APC, deployed to fight government critics and opposition figures, thereby achieving what the government cannot achieve through public debate.
“Meanwhile, we have observed how investigations into ruling party allies quietly fade away while opposition figures are dragged before the court of public opinion with sometimes decade-old allegations that have been hastily revived and dressed up as fresh evidence. This is selective prosecution, and selective prosecution is the death of justice.
“It does appear that in today’s Nigeria, one’s guilt or innocence depends on one’s party membership, not evidence. For example, since a certain former governor defected to the APC with his state’s entire political machinery, the EFCC’s investigations into his administration have vanished from public view.
“Not a question has been asked. Not a document leaked. Not a single update. Yet the same EFCC still somehow finds a means to reopen old cases against opposition leaders and pursue the stale allegations against them.
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‘It does not augur well for the EFCC if people think that all you need to point the accusing hands of the Commission in your direction is to stand opposed to the ruling party, and all that it takes for protection is to align with the government.
“Unfortunately, this is the widely established perception in Nigeria today, which the commission, by its recent actions, including the ongoing surreptitious harassment of opposition leaders, has given credence to. “
The ADC charged Nigerians, civil society organisations, and the media to resist “the slide into dictatorship and misuse of public institutions to achieve partisan objectives. The EFCC does not belong to the APC. It belongs to the Nigerian people. It is funded by taxpayers, not the ruling party.”
Reacting to the allegations, the Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, described the position as “unjustifiable and lacking in facts.”
According to him, the anti-graft agency has been highly professional in its operations across the country.
“The EFCC is blind and deaf to partisan issues. It is only alive to facts.
“Mr. Abdulahi did not say that his partymen facing corruption charges were framed up.
“Neither did he provide evidence that non-party men are being spared by the Commission.”
Oyewale noted that the EFCC Chairman has repeatedly affirmed that the Commission is non-partisan and non-sectarian.
“Available court records are enough to show that the EFCC operates strictly within its mandate. “That mandate does not make it an appendage of any political party,” he added.
APC National Secretary, Ajibola Bashiru, while reacting to the statement of instigated intimidation of its members, described the leadership of the opposition coalition party as impostors and impersonators.
He urging them to first of all regularise their status with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be legally recognised to issue statements attacking the ruling party.
The party’s chief scribe, particularly picked on the signatory of the statement, the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, insisting that he lacked the legal grounds to sign any statement for the opposition party. “We have no regard for any statement from an impostor like Bolaji Abdullahi. He is an impersonator. He should bury his head in shame for signing statements for a party he is usurping the position of a spokesman when he should not either be seen and heard.
“We don’t have time and energy to dissipate in replying to Bolaji Abdullahi and his party until they first legitimise their status and positions with INEC, before they will be qualified to issue statements. As far as we are concerned, the person who signed the statement is usurping that position. He has no legal recognition.
“For now, we are very busy, as you know, preparing for the forthcoming by-elections and should not be disturbed or distracted with sparing words to reply to impersonators like them,” he said.
