Atiku Challenges EFCC to Reopen Allegations, Says ‘Anyone With Evidence Should Bring It’

 

By Abel Chigozie 

The 2027 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has challenged anyone with credible evidence against him to present it for legal scrutiny, following a fresh petition seeking the reopening of alleged financial crimes cases against him.

Atiku, a former Vice-President under President Olusegun Obasanjo, said the allegations had already been investigated by several government institutions and that he was never convicted by any court. 

His reaction followed a petition filed with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by former House of Representatives member Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma, asking the anti-graft agency to reopen alleged financial crime investigations involving Atiku.

Agbonayinma, through his lawyer, Hannibal Uwaifo of Sagitarian Law Firm, gave the EFCC 14 days to act on the petition. The letter, dated August 27 and received by the commission on September 1, reportedly relied on an EFCC investigation and report concerning Atiku between 2005 and 2006, when he was Vice-President. 

According to the petition, the earlier report contained allegations relating to “sleaze, money laundering, and other serious financial crimes and other criminal acts.”

Responding through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the allegations had already been subjected to scrutiny by the EFCC, an administrative panel, the National Assembly and the courts.

“Let us not rewrite history. The Obasanjo administration did not protect me. At the height of our political disagreement, these matters travelled through the EFCC, an administrative panel, the national assembly and the courts,” Atiku said. 

He added: “Yet no court convicted me on these allegations. That is the record.”

The former Vice-President questioned what new evidence could have emerged nearly two decades after the original investigations.

“So what exactly has been discovered in 2026 that Nigeria did not hear twenty years ago? A petition is not a conviction, an acknowledgement stamp is not evidence of guilt, and repetition cannot magically become a judgment of court,” he said.

Atiku then challenged his accusers to bring forward any credible evidence against him.

> “Anyone with credible evidence against me should bring it out and test it before the law. I have issued that challenge before, and I repeat it today without hesitation.” 

The ADC candidate also accused supporters of President Bola Tinubu of reviving old allegations against him to divert attention from the country’s economic and security challenges.

He linked the latest petition to his demand that records relating to Tinubu’s civil forfeiture case in the United States be made public.

Atiku argued that while he was challenging his accusers to present evidence, Tinubu had intervened in a US court case concerning the release of FBI and DEA records relating to him, citing privacy interests. 

He called for all relevant records to be opened and all allegations to be tested through lawful processes.

Atiku further warned against using the EFCC or other state institutions as political weapons, saying the anti-graft agency should investigate genuine wrongdoing irrespective of political affiliation.

He argued that Nigerians were more concerned about issues such as rising living costs, declining purchasing power, transportation costs and economic hardship.

According to him, the 2027 elections should ultimately be about the records, policies and future offered by the various presidential candidates.