By Desire Emmanuel
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned what he described as “the crude and unorthodox” attempt to arrest a former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, at the Abuja International Airport on Thursday.
Reacting to the incident in a statement by his media office in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), frowned on attempt to arrest El-Rufai, a key figure of the party, by security personnel, saying it was a total disregard for due process.
“While I support the anti-corruption efforts in the country (having been pivotal in setting up the commission), I am worried about the politicisation of arrests that disproportionately target opposition leaders, especially the ADC since it came into being,” Atiku said.
He noted that the fanatical zeal the security agencies, especially the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been going after ADC coalition figures is a deviation from their constitutional mandate.
He pointed out that the agencies were not established to be political tools of the president or the ruling party, adding “if we continue on this path, they will lose credibility and compromise their independence.”
Atiku recalled that for example, the Uwais Panel on Electoral Reforms specifically recommended that the EFCC Chairman should be answerable to the Chief Justice of Nigeria in order to protect its independence.
The former vice president, however, regretted that the implementation panel set up by the Umaru Yar’Adua administration failed to adopt the recommendation of the panel on the independence of the EFCC.
