ABUJA, Nigeria — The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to prosecuting corruption cases regardless of political affiliations, stating that defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will not shield political office holders from legal accountability.
This position was articulated on Friday, May 23, 2025, by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in a statement issued through his media aide, Mr. Kamarudeen Ogundele.
Fagbemi was responding to allegations by Mr. Paul Ibe, spokesperson to former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Ibe had, during a television interview, alleged that the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Solicitor General of the Federation held a meeting with an unnamed former and sitting governor from a South-South state, just 48 hours before their defection to the APC.
Describing the allegation as “contemptuous” and “a figment of imagination,” the AGF said: “We know as a fact that the EFCC chairman and the Solicitor General of the Federation never met any serving or former governor as alleged by him.”
He added, “The discerning members of the public know those he could have been referring to. However, we wish to state categorically that the allegation is from the pit of hell.”
Fagbemi urged the public to disregard the claims, which he characterised as a “feeble attempt to discredit President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration’s fight against corruption.”
He reaffirmed the administration’s stance: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will continue to uphold the rule of law and will not falter in the fight against corruption no matter whose ox is gored.”
The EFCC also issued a separate statement on Friday, May 23, 2025, through its spokesperson, Mr. Dele Oyewale, rejecting Ibe’s allegations as baseless.
“The allegation that the EFCC Chairman and the Solicitor General of the Federation met with the said governor before his defection to the APC is patently fabricated and in bad taste,” the statement read.
The anti-graft agency emphasised that its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, is non-partisan and committed to due process.
“Olukoyede has stressed it at several fora that he is apolitical and the EFCC totally wired against partisan tendencies,” the Commission noted.
