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- Accuse Tinubu govt of plot to annihilate opposition
- Demand independent review body to examine public accounts of federal, state, LGs from 2015 to 2025
- Propose embedding anti-graft operatives directly into government payment, expenditure processes at all levels
A coalition of prominent opposition leaders, including 2023 presidential candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s government of politicising key state institutions, particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to intimidate and persecute opposition figures in an effort to weaken multi-party democracy.
The opposition leaders spoke in a joint statement issued on Sunday.
Other signatories include National Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Sen. David Mark, former National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, former Minister of State for Defence, Mallam Lawal Batagawara and former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George.
The statement reads, “We are compelled by duty to nation and conscience to issue this statement to alert our compatriots and the international community to the unfortunate and gradual slide of our country into a state where key national institutions – particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); The Nigeria Police; The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) are increasingly perceived as tools of political intimidation, selective justice and systematic persecution of opposition leaders.
“Across our nation, there are mounting concerns that state power is being deployed not for prevention of economic crimes, but for persecution of perceived political adversaries, with the ultimate aim of weakening opposition voices and dismantling Nigeria’s multiparty democracy.”
The opposition leaders warned of a “covert, undemocratic agenda” aimed at bringing all state governments under the control of the ruling APC through coercion rather than electoral means.
They alleged that recent defections of governors from opposition parties to the APC were driven by political pressure exerted through anti-corruption probes, rather than ideological shifts.
They cited a past remark by former APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole — that joining the APC meant “all your sins are forgiven” — as emblematic of what they described as selective enforcement, where allegations against ruling party members are overlooked while opposition figures face aggressive pursuit and media trials.
The statement further reads, “A few recent examples reinforce this perception. Months ago, a minister was implicated in a financial scandal so blatant that only sustained public outrage forced her resignation. Yet, long after stepping down, she has neither been charged nor arraigned by the EFCC and is now actively involved in the President’s re-election campaign.
“Similarly, another minister remained in office despite the university he claimed to have attended publicly denying his academic certificate. He, too, resigned only after intense public pressure. Months later, no charges have been filed.”
The opposition leaders emphasised that such selective enforcement undermines the legitimacy of anticorruption efforts and erodes public trust.
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“Furthermore, Nigerians are not blind to the sudden empowerment of certain political actors, including individuals appointed to federal executive positions after crossing from the opposition but still claim to be members of opposition party – whose unstated mandate, in the public’s eyes, appears to include the systematic destabilisation of opposition parties through the creation of factions, inducement and the exploitation of judicial processes, allegedly funded by state resources,” they said.
To address these issues, the opposition leaders demanded the immediate depoliticisation of the EFCC and protection from executive interference; a return to the agency’s core functions of detecting and preventing economic crimes across all parties, as outlined in Sections 6 and 7 of the EFCC Act; measures to prevent Nigeria from sliding into a de facto one-party state; embedding anti-graft operatives in government payment and expenditure processes at federal, state, and local levels to ensure preventive oversight, with operatives held accountable for any undetected infractions; and establishment of an independent review body, chaired by an eminent judge and including representatives from civil society, professional bodies, security agencies, and all political parties represented in the National Assembly, to examine public accounts from 2015 to 2025 and publish findings on alleged selective prosecutions.
The group warned that unchecked politicisation of anti-corruption efforts could lead to social and political instability as the 2027 elections approach.
Maintaining that democracy is under threat through the deliberate and systematic weakening of opposition forces, the opposition leaders called on all patriotic Nigerians across party lines, professions, regions and faiths to stand firm.
“Our democracy is under threat through the deliberate and systematic weakening of opposition forces, with the EFCC as the central instrument in this troubling strategy.
“In the coming weeks, we will provide more details, and also engage foreign partners of Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies and diplomatic missions, including United States, UK, Canada, EU, World Bank Office, United Nations, to express our deep concern about the EFCC increasingly becoming a willing tool in a broader scheme to weaken opposition in Nigeria, and also demand a reform of the anti graft agency.
“Nigeria’s democracy demands our vigilance, courage and unity, as Edmund Burke, an Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher, warned: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’.
“We are equally guided by the enduring words of Martin Luther King Jnr: ‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil ……In the end we shall remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.’
“Now is the time for all of us to rise in defence of our cherished multiparty democracy, and indeed, in defence of the very soul of our nation.
“We must make a deliberate choice not to be remembered by posterity for our silence,” the opposition leaders further said.
The presidency has not yet responded to the allegations.
