Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has disclosed that Nigeria’s anti-corruption war is dangerously sliding off course and mutating into a brazen political witch-hunt.
Atiku warned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and other anti-graft bodies to purge themselves of partisan contamination before they permanently lose the trust of Nigerians.
He was reacting to the arrest and detention of a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
In a statement signed by his media team, titled: “Anti-Corruption Fight Has Derailed Into a Full-Blown Political Witch-Hunt,” Atiku said the anti-graft agency is “straying far from the noble principles upon which it was created. Instead of upholding justice,” he said, “the agency is now weaponising its powers to serve narrow political agendas.”
According to him, “The politicisation of corruption investigations has rendered the EFCC’s credibility suspect and rubbished the very ideals that inspired its establishment.
“We expected the EFCC to voice its objection to the appointment of former governors with unresolved corruption allegations. But partisan loyalty prevailed over integrity.
“The EFCC, now operating like a political rottweiler, is deployed to intimidate and coerce politicians into joining the APC. And once they bow to pressure, their corruption cases mysteriously vanish.”
The former Vice President said the selective pursuit of Malami by the EFCC was “shameless.”