The African Democratic Congress on Tuesday accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of singling out opposition figures for politically motivated investigations, alleging that the agency’s latest target is its Interim National Chairman and former Senate President, David Mark.
In a statement by its acting National Publicity Secretary, Bola Abdullahi, the ADC said the EFCC had embarked on a “choreographed media trial” against coalition leaders after the detention of former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, on Monday and the invitation of former Imo State Governor, Emeka Ihedioha.
“The EFCC has now surreptitiously started excavating all the files from David Mark’s tenure as Senate President, 10 years after he left office,” Abdullahi said, questioning the timing of the investigations. “The pattern of ignoring APC stalwarts with fresher and well-documented cases, while targeting opposition figures with stale allegations, is proof of selective justice and an assault on political freedom.”
The party alleged that the crackdown was part of the ruling All Progressives Congress’ strategy to weaken the opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
It urged Nigerians to demand an end to what it described as “witch-hunt disguised as anti-corruption.”
He said, “Following our earlier release on Monday, we wish to bring to the public’s attention fresh details that expose the extent of this coordinated assault on the opposition. The detention of one of our leaders, former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, has marked the start of the crackdown intended to intimidate key leaders of the opposition and discredit them through media trials.
“Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha served as Governor of Imo State for just seven months, from May 29, 2019, until the Supreme Court removed him on January 14, 2020, a full five years and seven months ago. We, therefore, wonder what makes investigating him suddenly urgent now.”
Abdullahi accused the EFCC of selective justice and an assault on political freedom, saying, “Having failed to stop the coalition, the jittery ruling party’s next move is to discredit its leaders by getting the EFCC to accuse them of looting the entire treasuries. These are calculated media trials; it matters little whether there is a basis for these accusations, the game is the circus show.”
