Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to unfreeze the Osun State Government’s accounts has exposed what he described as the “myth” of the anti-graft agency’s operational independence.
Mr Atiku also challenged the President to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to release former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, if he indeed possesses the authority to issue operational directives to anti-corruption agencies.
The former vice president made the remarks in a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
He argued that Tinubu’s decision to order the EFCC to vacate the reported court order freezing Osun State’s accounts had contradicted the Presidency’s longstanding position that anti-corruption agencies operate independently.
According to Atiku, the President’s intervention had raised more questions than it answered.
He noted that while the EFCC had explained its reasons for freezing the Osun State Government’s accounts, the agency did not state in its official communication that it had obtained a court order.
“President Tinubu’s statement has raised more questions than it has answered. 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,” Atiku said.
He questioned why the anti-graft agency failed to disclose the existence of the court order if one had indeed been obtained.
“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. Nigerians deserve a coherent explanation instead of conflicting versions from the same government,” he added.
The ADC presidential candidate argued that Tinubu had inadvertently demonstrated that the EFCC was not as independent as the government had claimed.
“President Tinubu cannot have it both ways. 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. 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,” he said.
According to Atiku, institutional independence cannot coexist with direct presidential intervention in operational matters.
“One cannot preach institutional independence while exercising direct operational control over the same institution. Institutions cannot be independent only when it is politically convenient and subject to presidential directives whenever controversy arises. That is not institutional autonomy; it is executive control disguised as independence,” he stated.
The former vice president further argued that Tinubu’s intervention had created a constitutional and moral obligation that should not be applied selectively.
He challenged the President to direct the ICPC to release El-Rufai if he truly possessed the authority to issue similar directives to anti-corruption agencies.
“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.
“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.
He maintained that the controversy extended beyond the freezing of Osun State’s accounts or the detention of El-Rufai, insisting that the credibility of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions and the rule of law was at stake.
“The real casualty is the credibility of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions and the rule of law itself. Nigerians deserve institutions that are genuinely independent—not institutions that are portrayed as independent until the Presidency decides otherwise,” he said.
While acknowledging that reversing the freezing of Osun State’s accounts could help restore confidence in the electoral process, Atiku said it did not answer questions surrounding the circumstances that led to the action.
