The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of becoming a political tool for President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
In a statement released on Tuesday, HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, described the detention of former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, as a “politically-orchestrated smokescreen.” According to HURIWA, the move is designed to intimidate and dismantle the opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“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),” the statement read.
HURIWA further alleged that the anti-graft agency is using selective arrests and investigations to crush political opponents. The association insisted that the EFCC has been transformed into an “indispensable cog” in the machinery of Tinubu’s “desperate and crooked quest for a second term.”
The association concluded that what is being witnessed is not a genuine fight against corruption but “the weaponisation of anti-graft powers to intimidate, blackmail, and dismember the opposition.â€
