Anti-Graft Agencies Being Weaponised, Opposition Alleges
By FIDELUS ZWANSON
PROMINENT opposition figures have raised concerns over what they described as a growing threat to Nigeria’s multi-party democracy, accusing the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of politicising anti-corruption institutions to weaken political opposition. In a joint statement issued on Sunday, the leaders alleged that agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Police and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission are being used to intimidate and harass perceived opponents.
The statement, signed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President and ADC National Chairman David Mark, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi and other senior political figures, warned that the country was sliding towards a one-party system. They claimed that opposition governors and political leaders were being pressured through investigations and arrests to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
According to the statement, state power is allegedly being deployed not for genuine accountability but for systematic persecution ahead of the 2027 general elections. The leaders accused the EFCC of selective enforcement, arguing that while opposition figures are subjected to aggressive probes and media trials, allegations involving ruling party members are often ignored or quietly dropped.
They cited public perceptions of unequal justice, including past comments attributed to a former APC national chairman suggesting that defectors’ offences are overlooked, as evidence of eroding public trust in anti-graft agencies. The opposition figures called for an independent audit of federal, state and local government accounts from 2015 to 2025 and urged Nigerians to remain vigilant in defending democratic norms.
