By Sabiu Abdullahi
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to release former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai if the President has operational authority over anti-corruption agencies.
Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the demand after Tinubu directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to return to court and withdraw an order freezing the bank accounts of the Osun State Government.
El-Rufai has remained in ICPC custody since February 19 over allegations of financial impropriety linked to his eight-year tenure as Kaduna governor between 2015 and 2023.
The former governor was arraigned before the Kaduna High Court on April 13 on an amended nine-count charge that included allegations of fraud and abuse of office.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, questioned the claim that the EFCC acted independently in the Osun case.
Tinubu had on Thursday ordered the anti-graft agency to seek the withdrawal of the freezing order. The President said the EFCC had acted within its legal powers but considered the timing of the action inappropriate because it came shortly before the August 15 governorship election.
Atiku argued that the presidential intervention had raised doubts about repeated claims that the EFCC operates independently.
He also questioned the President’s reference to a court order, saying the EFCC did not mention such an order in its explanation for freezing the accounts.
“President Tinubu’s statement has raised more questions than it has answered,” Atiku said.
“While the EFCC’s official statement painstakingly explained why it froze the Osun State Government’s account, it made no mention whatsoever of obtaining a court order.
“Yet the President’s intervention is predicated entirely on the existence of such a court order, which he claims to have directed the EFCC to vacate.
“If indeed there was a court order, why did the EFCC omit such a fundamental fact from its official account? If there was none, then the President has introduced into the public discourse a legal process that exists nowhere in the EFCC’s own narrative.”
‘TINUBU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS’
Atiku said the President could not maintain that he does not interfere in the EFCC’s activities while also issuing a directive that affects an ongoing action by the commission.
“He cannot claim that he neither knew of nor interferes in the operations of the EFCC and, in the very next breath, announce that he has directed the commission to discontinue its action and return to court,” he said.
“If the EFCC promptly complies with that directive, then Nigerians have before them undeniable proof that the commission is not as operationally independent as the President wants the country to believe.”
Atiku Demands Same Intervention For El-Rufai
The ADC presidential candidate said Tinubu’s intervention in the Osun matter should apply equally to the case involving El-Rufai.
“Having now demonstrated that he can issue direct operational directives to anti-corruption agencies whenever he considers it expedient, President Tinubu owes Nigerians an explanation as to why he cannot exercise the same authority in the case of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai,” he said.
“If he can direct the EFCC to discontinue its action today, then he cannot pretend to be powerless over the actions of the ICPC tomorrow.
“Executive power cannot be invoked selectively for political convenience while institutional independence is cited only when it suits the Presidency.”
Atiku said the controversy had implications for public confidence in Nigeria’s anti-corruption bodies and the rule of law.
He acknowledged that reversing the freezing of the Osun government’s accounts could ease political tension ahead of the governorship election but said the decision did not resolve questions surrounding the original action.
“The unanswered questions remain: who authorised the freezing of the account of an opposition-controlled state just days before a governorship election, and why was such an extraordinary action taken at such a politically sensitive moment?” he said.
