Abuja, Nigeria — The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has warned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against what it called the politicisation of its work, accusing the agency of carrying out media trials to harass and intimidate opposition leaders on behalf of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC condemned the recent detention of former Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and the ‘urgent’ investigation into the seven-month tenure of former Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha.
The party described the actions as a calculated attempt to discredit opposition figures ahead of the 2027 elections.
“A fight against corruption that begins and ends with the opposition is not justice, it is persecution. These are calculated media trials, which start and end with the accusation, the scandal, and the consequent lowering of public estimation,” Abdullahi stated.
The ADC questioned the timing of the EFCC’s probes, pointing out that Tambuwal, Ihedioha, and ADC Chairman David Mark left office years ago.
It noted that while these opposition leaders face scrutiny, APC members with more recent and well-documented corruption cases remain untouched.
“Why now? Why these men? Why these timelines? If corruption truly has no statute of limitation, why are the EFCC’s files on APC’s own ‘big men,’ many with fresher, documented cases, gathering dust in forgotten drawers?” Abdullahi asked.
The party drew attention to Ihedioha’s case, stressing that he was in office for just seven months before being removed by the Supreme Court in January 2020.
“Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha served as Governor of Imo State for just 7 months, from May 29, 2019, until the Supreme Court removed him on January 14, 2020, a full 5 years and 7 months ago. We therefore wonder what makes investigating him suddenly ‘urgent’ now,” Abdullahi said.
The ADC also criticised the EFCC’s move to investigate David Mark’s tenure as Senate President, which ended more than a decade ago.
APC is said to be alledgedly using the EFCC to silence credible opposition voices and weaken the coalition ahead of the next general elections.
“The APC’s EFCC does not touch its own while they are in office or when they defect to the ruling party. Once a former governor crosses over, their files vanish like morning dew. Since Ifeanyi Okowa joined the APC, have Nigerians heard a single whisper from the EFCC about his cases? Yet opposition leaders are hounded with allegations from decades past without a shred of new evidence,” Abdullahi said.
The party urged Nigerians to resist what it described as an assault on democracy and to demand that the EFCC work independently and without political influence.
“What the EFCC is doing on behalf of the APC government is anti-democracy. Every time the EFCC is deployed as a political bulldog, it tramples on public trust and shreds the credibility of our justice system.
“Let this be on record: what the EFCC is doing on behalf of the APC government is anti-democracy. We remind the APC that state institutions do not belong to the ruling party, they belong to Nigerians.
“Today, it is David Mark, Ihedioha, and Tambuwal. Tomorrow, it could be anyone who dares to hold this government accountable,” the statement warned.
Margret Oshinowo | August 12, 2025
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