How EFCC Can Win Public Trust

By Alabi William / Posted 18 Aug 2025

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), last week, invited, detained and quizzed the former governor of Sokoto State, now a senator of the Federal Republic, Aminu Tambuwal, over alleged fraudulent cash withdrawals totaling N189 billion. The alleged offence, according to the EFCC was committed while Tambuwal served as governor and is said to contravene the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

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Tambuwal’s brief detention came with a bit of surprise, as it happened two years after the man had left office as governor. Many couldn’t connect the link to Sokoto, now that the man is a leading force in the burgeoning opposition coalition, the African Democratic Congress (ADC). What flaunted itself was his political identity, followed by the theory of why the Commission did not invite or arrest him before now.

There was no expression of shock regarding the alleged offence and the monumental sum involved.

Until the ADC coalition, Tambuwal was of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on which platform he served as governor from 2015 to 2023. He was also the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Now, the ADC is working hard to rival the All Progressives Congress (APC), come 2027. The suspicion in the opposition circles is why the EFCC did not arrest him during the struggle to reclaim PDP from state capture. They think the arrest has something to do with a ploy to coerce and intimidate the opposition that has found life in ADC. PDP is gasping for air.

As expected, the ADC accused the ruling party of weaponizing the EFCC to intimidate the opposition. In a statement signed by its national publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party accused the EFCC of reopening old cases in ways that are politically motivated.

The party said: “The EFCC was created to be a fearless defender of the Nigerian people’s trust, applying the law evenly to all, friend or foe, ruling party or opposition. Today, that vision appears to have been compromised. The Commission now operates like a department of the APC, deployed to fight government critics and opposition figures, thereby achieving what the government cannot achieve through public debate.”

It added: “Since a certain former governor defected to the APC with his state’s entire political machinery, the EFCC’s investigations into his administration vanished from public view. Not a document leaked. Not a single update. In today’s Nigeria, one’s guilt or innocence appears to depend on party membership, not evidence.”

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This perception is strong out there, even among observers who are not politically aligned. The impression is that the fight against corruption is not immunised against the political biases of people in government.

From the appointment of the chairman of the Commission, to the control by the office of Attorney General of the Federation, there is a possibility of partisanship. The appointment of the chair is done at the discretion of the President. There have been instances where the Attorney General’s office intervened in corruption cases. That did not begin with this government.

Even in the days of former President Obasanjo, the man who established the Commission, there were allegations of remote-controlling. What was not denied, however, is the determination to fight corruption irrespective of party affiliations. The Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, who was an appointee of Obasanjo was not spared. Neither were governors who belonged to the President’s party, the PDP.

While we may not deny the chances of political witch-hunt, the EFCC must still do its job. It has a responsibility to do it transparently and professionally, so that the public is able to affirm its efforts while politicians make their allegations. The anti-corruption crusade should not surrender to political prejudices.

That is one challenge this government has to take on if it desires to score high marks on transparency and accountability. So far, there’s little to show that APC is committed to the fight against corruption. They told Nigerians that corruption under the PDP government was life-threatening and it was going to kill the country.

As a presidential candidate in 2015, when Muhammadu Buhari was asked how he was going to deal with corruption, considering that some with whom he formed the APC were suspected to be master strategists in financial crimes, he promised he was going to draw a line between old and new sins.

He was being clever by half, knowing that the funding for his presidential campaign was not sourced from the banks. It was funded by some serving and former governors who looted their states. It was no surprise that in his eight years in office, EFCC didn’t go too far beyond the much-publicised Dasuki-Gate.

Revelations showed that Goodluck Jonathan’s National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), distributed $2.1 billion meant to procure arms to friends and party leaders for campaigns and miscellaneous expenses. It was lamented that the opaqueness of NSA’s accounting procedures yielded it to be the conduit pipe to launder funds. Several PDP leaders and loyalists picked heavy sums as campaign mobilisation.

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Someone took N2.1 billion for media campaign. A former publicity secretary took home N400 million. A former Board of Trustees chairman collected N260 million, which he said was shared to downlines, who were supposed to mobilise their constituents. Many pocketed the money and refused to mobilise. After they lost the election, various sums were retrieved from those who were found guilty. For others, it was a hush-hush plea bargaining.

That was in the opening years of APC government, when their obsession was that killing PDP amounted to killing corruption. The party has not demonstrated ideological commitment to kill corruption, hence the affliction has survived till this day, and has waxed stronger.

On the timing of the EFCC’s invitation to Tambuwal, which according to ADC amounted to resurrecting an old case to witch-hunt the opposition, let it be said that there is no statute of limitations for corruption cases in the country. Therefore, EFCC can prosecute cases regardless of their age.

The Commission may decide to prioritise a particular matter if it is urgent, or is more severe, or if it presents new evidence. The Commission, perhaps, needed time to put together solid evidence to deliver a good case, bearing in mind that it had lost cases to what judges described as lack of diligent prosecution. Concrete evidence is needed to win against wiles of politicians.

In July, Ayo Fayose, former Governor of Ekiti State was cleared of money laundering charges to the tune of over N6.9 billion. Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ruled that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case against the former governor because it presented insufficient and reliable evidence, and that the witnesses, including Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and bank’s official statements lacked credibility. The offences were not proven beyond doubt, therefore, the entire N6.9 billion theft case fell flat.

The EFCC announced it was going to appeal the judgment because all that money must not go down the drain or end up in one man’s pocket. The EFCC should be encouraged to go further. In the matter, the Commission alleged that Fayose received N1.2 billion to finance his 2014 election and took $5 million from Obanikoro, bypassing official procedures. He was accused of using proxies to purchase properties in Nigeria and abroad, with the associates later denying ownership. He was also alleged to have laundered N1.6 billion through two companies.

Some cases could be frustrating for the EFCC, and ultimately for Nigerians who are owners of looted funds. When the Fayose case began, it was interpreted to be a political witch-hunt at the time he was the voice of the opposition and face of the PDP in the traumatic years after the party lost the 2015 election.

At the time when many in the opposition had lost their voices, Fayose stood out in the fearless manner he joined issues with the Buhari government. When he left office and ceased to enjoy immunity, he packed a bag and surrendered to the EFCC, so began the prosecution which has now ended, unless the EFCC goes on appeal.

There is a sense in which the effluxion of time could harm the EFCC’s case no matter how tidy. Sometimes, when politicians align, especially with the party in government, their new affinity could win them some form of immunity, which is otherwise the prerogative of a president to administer. It is not done in broad daylight.

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Iyiola Omisore, was a customer of the EFCC for the N1.3 billion he allegedly lifted from the Office of NSA, Sambo Dasuki, until he assisted the APC to win a contentious governorship in Osun State. After that, the case was dropped and he became the national secretary of the APC.

Danjuma Goje, former Governor of Gombe State faced a N5 billion corruption allegation. After eight years of prosecution, the EFCC withdrew and handed it to the Attorney General’s office. It was discontinued. A number of fraud cases ended in that fashion and they make the EFCC’s commitment to the anti-corruption fight suspicious to citizens, including politicians who have now strayed from the mainstream.

In the Tambuwal matter, the sum of N189 billion is huge. Let the EFCC carry out unbiased investigations to prove the allegation of fraudulent cash withdrawals. Let it be clear that the case is not politically motivated. As the chair of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, promised, let no corruption case be swept under the carpet.

It is not just Tambuwal; it is about the resources of Sokoto State. Let the EFCC go after all governors, former and serving as well as ministers. It will be unwise for the ruling party to use the EFCC to hound the opposition. That’s not the way to fight corruption. It is too cheap.

The EFCC has lamented the ploy by politicians to make anticipatory assets declaration before they acquire them. Chairman Olukoyede said it is a cunning corruption practice to outsmart anti-corruption agencies.

He said a particular politician declared a mansion worth N3 billion before it was built.

Expose the person. Let there be transparency and full disclosures, whether it is plea bargaining or presidential clemency. That is the way to win public trust.

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Note: This article was first published by The Guardian Newspaper.
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