EFCC’s sudden probe of DAVID MARK, EMEKA IHEDIOHA and AMINU TAMBUWAL is politically driven - ADC

Wednesday, August 13, 2025 - The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of being used by the federal government to harass and discredit opposition leaders.

In a statement on Tuesday, August 12, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC interim national publicity secretary, alleged that the anti-graft agency has embarked on “a choreographed media trial” against key figures in the opposition.

Abdullahi cited the overnight detention of Aminu Tambuwal, former Sokoto governor, and the EFCC’s “urgent” request for information on the seven-month tenure of Emeka Ihedioha, former Imo governor, as politically motivated actions. He also faulted the commission’s reported move to investigate David Mark, the party’s interim national chairman, over his time as senate president.

“ADC, like all Nigerians, questions the curious timing, selective targets, and political motivations that now seem to define the EFCC’s actions,” Abdullahi said. “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.”

He added that the EFCC’s investigations into opposition leaders were designed to weaken their credibility ahead of the 2027 elections. “Once a former governor crosses over to the ruling party, their files vanish like morning dew,” Abdullahi said. “Since Ifeanyi Okowa joined the APC, have Nigerians heard a single whisper from the EFCC about his cases? Yet opposition leaders are hounded with allegations from decades past without a shred of new evidence.”

The ADC spokesperson urged Nigerians to resist what he described as the misuse of state institutions for political ends. “Today, it is David Mark, Ihedioha, and Tambuwal. Tomorrow, it could be anyone who dares to hold this government accountable,” he warned.

The accusation follows a statement on Monday when the ADC described the EFCC as acting like a “political hit squad” for the APC, asserting that the commission’s “recent pattern of reopening closed cases and pursuing decades-old allegations is not the work of an impartial anti-graft body."