Atiku Challenges Tinubu to Order ICPC to Release El-Rufai After EFCC Directive
By Nafiu Muhammad Lema
Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of undermining the claimed operational independence of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies.
Atiku, in a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, challenged President Tinubu to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to release former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, if he truly has the authority to issue operational directives to anti-graft agencies.
The statement followed President Tinubu’s reported directive to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to vacate the court order freezing the Osun State Government’s account.
Atiku argued that the President’s intervention had raised questions about the long-standing claim that anti-corruption agencies operate independently of the Presidency.
“President Tinubu’s statement has raised more questions than it has answered,” Atiku said, questioning why the EFCC’s official account of the Osun State matter allegedly did not mention obtaining a court order, despite the President’s intervention being based on the existence of such an order.
The ADC presidential candidate said Nigerians deserved a clear explanation of the conflicting accounts.
“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,” he said.
Atiku further argued that President Tinubu could not simultaneously claim that the EFCC operates independently while publicly directing the commission to discontinue an action.
“President Tinubu cannot have it both ways,” he said. “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.”
According to Atiku, compliance with such a directive would raise questions about the extent of the EFCC’s operational independence.
“One cannot preach institutional independence while exercising direct operational control over the same institution,” he said.
The former Vice President also challenged President Tinubu to apply the same authority to the case involving former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
“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,” Atiku said.
He described the controversy as one that goes beyond the Osun State Government’s account or El-Rufai’s situation, warning that the credibility of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions and the rule of law could be affected.
“The real casualty is the credibility of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions and the rule of law itself,” Atiku said.
Atiku also questioned the timing of the freezing of the Osun State Government’s account, coming days before a governorship election.
“The unanswered questions remain: who authorised the freezing of the account of an opposition-controlled state just days before a governorship election, and why was such an extraordinary action taken at such a politically sensitive moment?” he asked.
He said reversing the action could prevent further damage to the electoral process but argued that it did not resolve questions surrounding the initial decision.
“Democracy is not measured by the ability to reverse an injustice after public outrage; it is measured by the discipline to prevent such injustice from occurring in the first place,” Atiku said.
