Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu to order the release of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, arguing that the President cannot claim to have no influence over anti-corruption agencies after reportedly directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to reverse the freezing of Osun State Government accounts. Atiku said the development had raised fresh questions about the independence of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions.
In a statement issued on Thursday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate said Tinubu’s intervention in the Osun account controversy had weakened the long-standing claim that agencies such as the EFCC operate independently of the Presidency.
According to Atiku, if the President could instruct the EFCC to reverse its action against Osun State, there was no justification for claiming he lacked the authority to influence the continued El-Rufai detention by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Atiku also questioned what he described as inconsistencies in the government’s explanation of the Osun account freeze.
He argued that if the EFCC acted based on a valid court order, the commission should have disclosed that fact from the outset. Conversely, if no such order existed, he said the Presidency owed Nigerians an explanation for introducing a legal basis that was absent from the agency’s own account.The former vice president maintained that the conflicting narratives had created unnecessary confusion and undermined public confidence.
According to Atiku, genuine institutional independence cannot exist where anti-corruption agencies are perceived to respond to presidential directives whenever politically sensitive issues arise. He argued that agencies cannot claim operational autonomy while simultaneously carrying out direct executive instructions, describing such a situation as executive control disguised as institutional independence.
The ADC presidential candidate said the controversy extends beyond the fate of Osun State or the El-Rufai detention, insisting that it touches on the credibility of Nigeria’s anti-corruption framework.
He further argued that reversing the account freeze shortly before the Osun governorship election does not erase concerns already raised by the incident. Atiku maintained that democracy is better measured by preventing perceived injustices through respect for due process than by reversing controversial decisions after public criticism.
