ATIKU CONDEMNS TAMBUWAL’S DETENTION, ACCUSES TINUBU OF WEAPONIZING ANTI-CORRUPTION FIGHT

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the detention of former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing the Tinubu-led administration of weaponizing the anti-corruption fight to intimidate and dismantle the opposition.

In a strongly worded statement, Atiku said, “The only reason the EFCC has detained the former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, is because he is a member of the opposition Coalition. It is a continuation of the Tinubu-led administration’s agenda to harass, intimidate, and decimate the opposition.”

Atiku warned that the move against Tambuwal is part of a broader plot to coerce opposition figures into the ruling party. “We are living witnesses to a growing trend where the state and its operators have assumed the roles of a bully by making corruption and the fight against it a political agenda,” he said.

Atiku expressed concern that the EFCC’s actions are being used to empty opposition state governors into the ruling party. “We have seen how the EFCC has been used to empty opposition state governors into the ruling party, and the tea party is not about to end anytime soon,” he said.

The former Vice President called on civil society spaces and friends of Nigeria in the international community to roundly condemn the objectification of anti-corruption as a political agenda. “While the genuine fight against corruption is a matter that requires the total support of all Nigerians, the objectification of it as a political agenda should be roundly condemned by all in civil society spaces and friends of Nigeria in the international community,” he said.