The Presidency has strongly rejected allegations from opposition politicians that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is intentionally weakening Nigeria’s multi-party democracy and improperly using anti-corruption agencies for political purposes, branding the accusations as unfounded and driven by partisan interests.
In a statement released on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency argued that the opposition is resorting to “subterfuge and an empty search for scapegoats” in response to its declining political standing. The statement clarified that recent defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are voluntary, a product of constitutional freedoms, and motivated by the perceived success of President Tinubu’s reform program, noting that mass defections to the PDP between 2000 and 2015 did not elicit similar claims of democratic decline.
Regarding claims that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is being weaponized to harass opposition figures, the Presidency maintained that the agency operates independently and strictly within the law, without direction from the President on whom to investigate or prosecute, and that its mandate is to prosecute financial crimes irrespective of political affiliation. The statement urged politicians facing investigations to seek redress through due process rather than politicizing accountability, describing the “weaponisation” allegations as deliberate distractions from an administration with measurable achievements. The Presidency also pointed out that some critics had been investigated by the EFCC before 2023 or were linked to international financial crime probes, warning that attempts to undermine public confidence in anti-corruption agencies weaken national efforts against corruption.
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