Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the detention of ex-Governor Aminu Tambuwal by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as an objectification of the fight against corruption by the President Bola Tinubu administration.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Abubakar alleged that the former Sokoto governor, now a serving senator, was detained because he is a member of the African Democratic Congress coalition.

“The only reason the @officialEFCC has detained the former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, @AWTambuwal, is because he is a member of the opposition Coalition,” said Mr Abubakar. “It is a continuation of the Tinubu-led administration’s agenda to harass, intimidate, and decimate the opposition.”

Accusing the current administration of coercing opposition members into joining the ruling All Progressives Congress, Mr Abubakar claimed that 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 are 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 is not the objective for which I worked hard during our administration to create the EFCC,” the politician added.

The former vice-president further accused Mr Tinubu’s government of using EFCC to force opposition state governors into the ruling party, saying such tendencies make corruption 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. It is 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 are 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,” Mr Abubakar said.

The ADC chieftain vowed not to “succumb to anti-democratic machinations of railroading our people members into a one-party dictatorship”, charging Nigerian and international civil society groups to condemn the trend.

According to him, 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 condemned.

Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, did not respond to Peoples Gazette’s request seeking comments on Mr Abubakar’s allegations.

On Monday, Mr Tambuwal was detained by the EFCC over alleged fraudulent cash withdrawals totaling N189 billion.

The serving senator and former speaker of the House of Representatives arrived at the EFCC’s headquarters in Abuja at about 11:00 a.m., where detectives grilled him for hours over alleged violations of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.