Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has challenged President Bola Tinubu to direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to release Nasir el-Rufai.
El-Rufai has been in the custody of the ICPC since February
19 over alleged financial impropriety during his tenure as governor of Kaduna
between 2015 and 2023.
On April 13, the ICPC arraigned the former governor at the
Kaduna high court on an amended nine-count charge bordering on alleged fraud
and abuse of office.
‘TINUBU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS’
Atiku said Tinubu’s recent directive to the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to lift the freeze on the Osun state
government’s bank accounts has undermined repeated claims that the country’s
anti-graft agencies operate independently.
Tinubu had on Thursday directed the EFCC to return to court
and vacate the order freezing the Osun government’s accounts, saying although
the agency acted within its statutory powers, the timing of the action — days
before the August 15 governorship election — was inappropriate.
Reacting in a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, his senior
special assistant on public communication, Atiku said the president’s
intervention had exposed what he described as the “myth” of the EFCC’s
operational independence.
The former vice-president questioned Tinubu’s claim that the
EFCC had obtained a court order before placing a lid on the accounts.
According to him, the anti-graft agency never mentioned any
court order while explaining the basis for its action.
“President Tinubu’s statement has raised more questions than
it has answered,” Atiku said.
“While the EFCC’s official statement painstakingly explained
why it froze the Osun State Government’s account, it made no mention whatsoever
of obtaining a court order.
“Yet the President’s intervention is predicated entirely on
the existence of such a court order, which he claims to have directed the EFCC
to vacate.
“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.”
Atiku stated that Tinubu could not claim to be detached from
the EFCC’s operations while simultaneously directing the commission to
discontinue its action.
“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,” he
said.
“If the EFCC promptly complies with that directive, then
Nigerians have before them undeniable proof that the commission is not as
operationally independent as the President wants the country to believe.”
‘DIRECT ICPC TO RELEASE EL-RUFAI’
Atiku said Tinubu’s intervention had created a
constitutional and moral obligation that could not be applied selectively.
“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,” he said.
“If he can direct the EFCC to discontinue its action today,
then he cannot pretend to be powerless over the actions of the ICPC tomorrow.
“Executive power cannot be invoked selectively for political
convenience while institutional independence is cited only when it suits the
Presidency.”
The former vice-president said the credibility of Nigeria’s
anti-corruption institutions and the rule of law was at stake.
He added that although reversing the freezing of the Osun
government’s account may reduce tension ahead of the governorship election, it
did not answer questions about why the action was initiated in the first place.
“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 said.
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