Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has asked the Economic
\nand Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to resist what he described as
\npolitical manipulation.<\/p>\n
Atiku\u2019s call is in response to the acquittal of a chieftain of the
\nPeoples Democratic Party (PDP), Raymond Dokpesi, by the Federal Court of
\nAppeal in Abuja.<\/p>\n
Dokpesi was prosecuted by the EFCC in connection with the alleged \u20a6 2.1
\nbillion money laundering charges brought against him over the arms
\ncontracts under former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.<\/p>\n
The court, however, quashed the charges on Thursday in a unanimous
\njudgment of a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Williams-Daudu.<\/p>\n
But Atiku in a statement he personally signed on Friday expressed his
\njoy and solidarity over the incident, saying he was elated with the
\noutcome of the trial.<\/p>\n
The ex-Vice President said the court judgement \u201crevealed the truth about
\nthe lopsided nature of the anti-corruption policy of the Buhari
\nadministration.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cthe entire anti-corruption trials appear to be
\nfocused on opposition politicians, thereby casting doubts on the
\ncredibility of the anti-graft agency.\u201d<\/p>\n
He recalled that during the 2019 presidential election, the EFCC focused
\nits time and resources on harassing and arraigning aides of opposition
\npoliticians, lamenting that it was indifferent to how members of the
\nruling party were financing their campaigns.<\/p>\n
The former PDP presidential candidate noted that even members of the
\ninternational community are now coming to terms with the reality that
\nthe anti-corruption crusade is not impartial, and that the government is
\nnow using the anti-corruption policy to contrive charges against those
\nthey want to use to advance certain political objectives.<\/p>\n
While noting that he was impressed with the appointment of Abdul Rasheed
\nBawa as EFCC chairman, Atiku asked him to learn from the mistakes of his
\npredecessors.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a young man of great intellect and confidence, I\u2019m confident that
\nyou are up to the task. You must be ready to restore the glory of the
\nEFCC by changing its public perception as a political tool of the
\ngovernment in power,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet your conscience and history judge you. But you can only do so if
\nyou resist external manipulation. May Allah guide you aright.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to resist what he described as political manipulation. Atiku\u2019s call is in response to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n