•Atiku and Tinubu
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that the coalition won’t succumb to anti-democratic machination to turn the country into a one party state.
Atiku in a press statement today while reacting to the detention of former Governor Aminu Tambuwal by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also accused President Bola Tinubu of continuing to harass and intimidate opposition, reports Daily Independent.
Recall that the EFCC detained Senator Tambuwal over allegation of withdrawal of N189 billion from the Sokoto State account.
The statement reads, “The only reason the @officialEFCC has detained the former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, @AWTambuwal, is because he’s a member of the opposition coalition.
“It’s a continuation of the Tinubu-led administration’s agenda to harass, intimidate, and decimate the opposition.”
He added, “The reality unfolding before us today is that the Tinubu administration, as with other aspects, has objectified the fight against corruption as a political tool to coerce opposition leaders into the ruling party.
“We’re living witnesses to a growing trend where the state and its operators have assumed the roles of a bully by making corruption and the fight against it a political agenda.
“Certainly, that’s not the objective for which I worked hard during our administration to create the EFCC.
“It’s as though today, anyone who associates with the opposition is a target for phantom corruption allegations and, it is as though, as soon as they’re coerced into the political agenda of President @officialABAT, their ‘sins’ are forgiven.
“That, definitely, is not how to build institutions. That, certainly, is not how to fight the monster of corruption. Indeed, such tendencies provide the stimulant for corruption to thrive.
“We have seen how the EFCC has been used to empty opposition state governors into the ruling party, and the tea party is not about to end anytime soon.
“While the genuine fight against corruption is a matter that requires the total support of all Nigerians, the objectification of it as a political agenda should be roundly condemned by all in civil society spaces and friends of Nigeria in the international community.
“We have in recent times witnessed the use of anti-corruption agencies in coercing political leaders into the ruling party. Our assurance to Nigerians is that we would never succumb to these anti-democratic machinations of railroading our people into a one-party dictatorship.”
