Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the detention of former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), describing it as part of a calculated attempt by the President Bola Tinubu administration to “harass, intimidate and decimate” the opposition.

In a statement, Atiku alleged that Tambuwal’s detention was politically motivated and symptomatic of a broader agenda to weaken the opposition coalition through the weaponisation of anti-corruption agencies.
“The only reason the EFCC has detained the former governor is because he is a member of the opposition coalition,” Atiku said. “It is a continuation of the Tinubu-led administration’s agenda to harass, intimidate and decimate the opposition.”

The former presidential candidate warned that the country was witnessing “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.”

He lamented that the EFCC, which he said was established during his tenure as Vice President to strengthen institutional accountability, was now being used as “a political tool to coerce opposition leaders into the ruling party.”
“It is as though anyone who associates with the opposition is a target for phantom corruption allegations, and as soon as they are coerced into the political agenda of President Tinubu, their ‘sins’ are forgiven,” Atiku stated.

According to him, such tendencies not only undermine institutional integrity but also embolden corruption. He accused the EFCC of being used to “empty opposition state governors into the ruling party,” insisting that the trend “is not about to end anytime soon.”

While acknowledging the importance of the anti-corruption fight, Atiku urged civil society groups, Nigerians, and the international community to condemn its alleged politicisation.
“Our assurance to Nigerians is that we will never succumb to the anti-democratic machinations of railroading our people into a one-party dictatorship,” he said.

Tambuwal, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, served as Sokoto State governor between 2015 and 2023 and is currently a senator representing Sokoto South. The EFCC has yet to issue an official statement on his detention.