The Presidency has denied allegations that President Bola Tinubu is politicising anti-graft agencies, stressing that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operates independently and without interference from the executive.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made this known via a statement issued on Sunday.
Onanuga, who dismissed claims by opposition parties that the Tinubu administration is weaponising the EFCC against political opponents, described the allegations as distractions by politicians seeking scapegoats for their political failures.
Onanuga said the Constitution guarantees freedom of association, stressing that politicians who have defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) did so voluntarily, motivated by what he described as the gains of Tinubu’s reform programme.
He rejected claims that such defections threaten multi-party democracy.
“We may ask: when politicians were moving in droves to the now-dying Peoples Democratic Party between 2000 and 2015, was Nigeria’s democracy imperilled?” the presidential spokesman said.
Onanuga also addressed criticisms surrounding ongoing EFCC investigations, noting that the agency is empowered by law to investigate and prosecute financial crimes regardless of political affiliation or status.
He emphasised that Tinubu does not direct any anti-corruption agency on whom to investigate, arrest or prosecute.
Onanuga stated: “Those who have cases to answer before EFCC should be bold and brave enough to defend themselves if they are clean.
“President Tinubu does not issue directives to any anti-corruption agency on whom to investigate, arrest, or prosecute.
“President Tinubu has significant state issues to address rather than engage in political targeting.
“The prosecution is conducted by the court, not by any sleight of hand, and those found not guilty will receive a clean bill of health.
“Allegations of ‘weaponisation’ are distractions from these politicians, who are running short of campaign issues to challenge President Tinubu and the APC’s success in less than three years in office.
“No one is above the law. Everyone must be accountable for their actions, both in and out of the office. Political affiliation should not be a shield against EFCC statutory work, which recently led to Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list.”
Onanuga further stated that the administration is focused on governance and addressing pressing national issues, not political targeting.
He noted that some of the politicians accusing the government of weaponising the EFCC had previously been investigated or prosecuted by the agency before Tinubu assumed office in 2023, while others had been implicated in international financial crime probes.
The presidential spokesman added: “We advise those politicians not to undermine the integrity of our nation’s institutions and the collective resolve to fight corruption by weaponising politics to escape accountability and encourage impunity.
“The fight against corruption is a collective responsibility and should not be trivialised by baseless allegations, jaundiced or politicised narratives.”