Atiku Challenges Tinubu Over EFCC Directive and El‑Rufai Detention
Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to President Bola Tinubu’s instruction to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to set aside a court order that froze the Osun State Government’s bank account.
Atiku argued that the President’s move undermines the long‑held assertion that anti‑corruption agencies operate independently of the Presidency.
He urged Tinubu to immediately order the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to free former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El‑Rufai, if the President truly possesses the authority to issue operational directives to anti‑corruption bodies.
“President Tinubu’s statement has raised more questions than it has answered,” Atiku said. “While the EFCC’s official release explained why it froze Osun’s account, it made no mention of obtaining a court order. Yet the President’s intervention is based entirely on the existence of such an order, which he claims to have directed the EFCC to vacate.”
He continued, “If a court order really existed, why did the EFCC omit that basic fact from its statement? If no order existed, then the President has introduced a legal process that appears nowhere in the EFCC’s own narrative. Nigerians deserve a clear, consistent explanation rather than contradictory versions from the same government.”
Atiku warned that the President cannot claim both ignorance of EFCC operations and then openly direct the commission to reverse its action. “One cannot preach institutional independence while exercising direct control over the same institution. Independence cannot be switched on and off according to political convenience.”
He added that having demonstrated the ability to issue direct directives to anti‑corruption agencies, Tinubu now bears a constitutional and moral obligation to explain why the same power cannot be used to secure El‑Rufai’s release from the ICPC.
The former Vice President concluded that the controversy threatens the credibility of Nigeria’s anti‑corruption institutions and the rule of law itself. “Nigerians deserve institutions that are genuinely independent, not bodies that appear independent only until the Presidency decides otherwise.”
While unfreezing the Osun State account may prevent further damage to the electoral process, it does not erase the fact that such an action was initiated in the first place. Atiku called for accountability over who authorised the freeze and why it was carried out days before a governorship election.
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