Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has called on the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, to resign, accusing him of presiding over what he described as selective prosecution.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Frank alleged that the anti-graft agency had abandoned its constitutional responsibility and was now being used as a political instrument of the ruling APC.
According to him, the EFCC under Olukoyede had acted in ways contrary to the law, bringing “embarrassment and discredit” to the Commission through alleged selective enforcement and political compromises.
Frank said the line between an independent anti-corruption agency and an extension of the ruling party had become increasingly blurred, pointing that the EFCC now appeared to facilitate political negotiations rather than prosecute financial crimes.
He also alleged that the Commission had assumed the role of mediating the defection of politicians from opposition parties to the APC.
To support his claims, Frank referenced several high-profile cases, starting with former Delta State Governor Senator Ifeanyi Okowa. He said Okowa was aggressively investigated while in the opposition but that the case lost momentum after he reportedly met with EFCC officials and later defected to the APC. Frank added that Okowa was subsequently appointed a “Renewed Hope Ambassador.”
Frank equally mentioned former governors, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, whom he said were invited by the EFCC but faced no further public scrutiny after what he described as undisclosed discussions.
He challenged the EFCC to show the same level of public engagement in other ongoing cases, naming former Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance Yakubu Adamu, and others.
Frank further alleged that individuals accused of looting public funds were being rewarded with appointments under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. He claimed that seized assets had been quietly returned to suspects who aligned themselves politically with the ruling party, accusing the EFCC of acting as a mediator instead of a prosecuting authority.
“We have unfortunately reached a point in our country where it has become difficult to distinguish between a commission statutorily saddled with the responsibility of fighting economic and financial crimes and one that appears to operate as an arm of the ruling party.
“Looters of public resources are consistently rewarded with juicy appointments, in apparent collusion with a commission that now serves as a mediator rather than a prosecutor,” he said.
