The Presidency has dismissed allegations by opposition figures that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is undermining Nigeria’s multi-party democracy and deploying anti-corruption agencies for political purposes, describing the claims as baseless and motivated by partisan interests.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said the opposition was engaging in “subterfuge and an empty search for scapegoats” as its political influence continues to wane.
According to the statement, recent defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were neither coerced nor engineered, but a reflection of constitutional rights that allow Nigerians to freely choose their political affiliation.
“The individuals joining the APC are doing so voluntarily, encouraged by the visible outcomes of President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda,” the statement said. It added that similar mass defections to the then-dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) between 2000 and 2015 did not attract accusations of democratic erosion.
Addressing claims that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is being used to intimidate opposition figures, the Presidency insisted that the agency operates independently and strictly in line with the law.
While noting that it does not speak for the EFCC, the Presidency reaffirmed that the commission is empowered by law to investigate and prosecute financial crimes without regard to political affiliation, status or influence.
“It is ironic that those who profess a desire to rescue Nigeria are now opposing accountability and probity,” the statement said, advising politicians under investigation to pursue redress through lawful means.
The Presidency further emphasised that President Tinubu does not direct any anti-corruption agency on whom to arrest, investigate or prosecute, stressing that the judiciary ultimately determines the outcome of such cases.
It described allegations of “weaponisation” as calculated distractions, arguing that the opposition is struggling to raise substantive issues against an administration it said has recorded measurable achievements in less than three years.
The statement also noted that some individuals backing the opposition’s claims had been investigated or prosecuted by the EFCC before President Tinubu assumed office in 2023, while others have been linked to international financial crime probes.
Warning against the politicisation of state institutions, the Presidency said efforts to erode public trust in anti-corruption agencies undermine national transparency goals.
“No one is above the law, and political affiliation should not serve as a shield against accountability,” the statement said, citing Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list as evidence of progress in the fight against corruption.
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