APC accused of weaponising EFCC against opposition figures, as ADC says Ihedioha, David Mark are latest targets
By Ishaya Ibrahim
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to harass leading opposition leaders involved in the coalition aimed at unseating President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.
Aminu Tambuwal, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives (2011-2015) and former Sokoto State Governor (2015-2023), has been a guest of the EFCC since August 11. Reports in the media claimed the EFCC was investigating him over a case involving N189 billion.
Not long after Tambuwal was arrested, Emeka Ihedioha was invited by the EFCC to provide information on his seven-month tenure as former Imo State Governor. Ihedioha left office in January 2020 after serving briefly for seven months.
The EFCC is also allegedly probing David Mark, who served as Senate President from 2007 until 2015.
For the ADC, it is crystal clear that the EFCC is out on a hatchet job — a choreographed media trial targeted at bringing coalition leaders to disrepute.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC questioned why the EFCC had suddenly found “urgent” reason to investigate David Mark, 10 years after leaving the Senate Presidency, Ihedioha, more than 5 years after his brief tenure as governor, and Tambuwal, 2 years after leaving office as Sokoto governor. The party said 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 full statement read:
Following our earlier release on Monday, in which we alerted Nigerians about the plan to deploy the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a political weapon by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), 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.
As shown in an EFCC correspondence currently circulating online, the Commission has now embarked on the investigation of another coalition chieftain, former Imo Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, with an “urgent” request to the officials to provide information related specifically to his brief seven months in office.
Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, 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.
Most notably, the EFCC has now surreptitiously started excavating all the files from the ADC Chairman, Senator David Mark’s tenure as President of the Nigerian Senate. Let us remind Nigerians that our Party Chairman, Senator Mark, served as the Senate President for 8 years, from June 6, 2007, to June 6, 2015 — making him the longest-serving Senate President in our history. He left office 10 years and 2 months ago. Three Senate Presidents after, the EFCC suddenly remembered that he was a Senate President.
While the ADC, as a party, stands for adherence to the rule of law and due process, like all Nigerians, we question the curious timing, selective targets, and political motivations that now seem to define the EFCC’s actions. A fight against corruption that begins and ends with the opposition is not justice — it is persecution. We have no doubts that this is witch-hunting; it is the APC government weaponising anti-corruption to do its political battle.
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, which start and end with the accusation, the scandal, and the consequent lowering of public estimation. It matters little whether there is a basis for these accusations — the game is the circus show.
