By Ankeli Emmanuel, Sokoto
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has raised eyebrows against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu saying his desperation for power come 2027 is manifesting in a bitter manner.
HURIWA, who stated this on the heels of the recent arrest of former governor of Sokoto State and Senator representing Sokoto South Senatorial District, Aminu Wazirin Tambuwal by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), added that, the Commission has abandoned it’s statutory mandate and now turned official attack dog of the presidency.
A statement by HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko said the EFCC is now being used by the Presidency for carry out selective arrests and investigations to crush the opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
While submitting that the arrest and investigation of a serving Senator and former governor over alleged fraudulent cash withdrawals amounting to ₦189 billion was simply a politically-orchestrated smokescreen designed to intimidate and fracture the opposition coalition movement determined to unseat President Tinubu in 2027, HURIWA said the commission has become a part of the Presidency’s plot to silence and distabilize opposition voices.
HURIWA’s statement read in part, “the calculated pattern of harassment” against prominent figures in the African Democratic Congress (ADC)-led opposition coalition, which recently announced its readiness to challenge Tinubu’s re-election bid is far from being an impartial anti-corruption agency, the EFCC has become “an indispensable cog in the machinery of Tinubu’s desperate and crooked quest for a second term in office.
“Every discerning Nigerian can see the handwriting on the wall. The EFCC is no longer the fearless watchdog envisioned by law; it has been reduced to an obedient lapdog, deployed to do the dirty political work of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). What we are witnessing is not the fight against corruption, but the weaponisation of anti-graft powers to intimidate, blackmail, and dismember the opposition,”
Continuing, HURIWA decried that, ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, had confirmed that at least three former governors in the coalition had been summoned by the EFCC in recent days, in what the party described as politically motivated moves based on stale cases, not fresh evidence.
According to HURIWA, “this mirrors a disturbing pattern in which opposition politicians face swift and aggressive prosecution while alleged corruption involving APC stalwarts mysteriously disappears from public scrutiny once they align with the ruling party.
“This is the same EFCC that has conveniently forgotten corruption cases involving high-ranking APC members who defected from the opposition with entire state structures. The moment they join the ruling party, the files vanish, the media noise dies, and the investigations evaporate into thin air. Yet, opposition leaders with decade-old allegations are suddenly dragged back into the dock in the name of anti-corruption. This is not justice; this is selective political persecution,”HURIWA frawned.
“The timing of Tambuwal’s arrest, coming just months after the coalition formally began strategic consultations, is no coincidence. This is a crude attempt to break the spine of the opposition before the 2027 contest even begins. It is part of a broader script to use every instrument of state – law enforcement, security agencies, and regulatory bodies – to secure Tinubu’s re-election by all crooked means.
The rights group also dismissed EFCC’s defence that it is non-partisan and operates strictly within its mandate, describing the Commission’s public statements as “insulting to the intelligence of Nigerians who have watched, time and again, as the EFCC is unleashed on perceived political enemies while ruling party loyalists enjoy a shield of immunity by association.
“Such actions not only erode
public confidence in the EFCC but also weaken Nigeria’s fight against corruption by turning it into a partisan weapon. Selective prosecution is the death of justice. When anti-corruption becomes a political sledgehammer rather than a blindfolded scale, the rule of law dies and tyranny thrives,”
HURIWA urged Nigerians, civil society organisations, professional bodies, and the independent media to resist what it called “a dangerous slide into one-party dictatorship,” warning that unchecked abuse of state power by Tinubu’s administration could permanently damage Nigeria’s democratic framework.
“The EFCC is not the property of the APC, and it certainly is not a re-election task force for Bola Tinubu. It belongs to the Nigerian people and is funded by taxpayers. Every time it is misused for political vendetta, it robs the nation of credibility, scares away investment, and deepens public cynicism about governance,”
HURIWA also called on the National Assembly to urgently summon the EFCC leadership to explain the rationale for its sudden revival of old cases against opposition figures, while cases involving ruling party members remain dormant.
The right group also demanded that the international community, particularly Nigeria’s democratic partners, take note of what it described as “state-sponsored political persecution masquerading as anti-corruption.
“Today it is Tambuwal and the ADC coalition; tomorrow it will be journalists, activists, and any citizen bold enough to challenge Tinubu’s government. We cannot afford to normalise this abuse of power. The EFCC must return to its legal mandate or be prepared to face sustained civil and legal resistance from the Nigerian people,” HURIWA advised.
