Defection To APC Won’t Halt Trial Of Corrupt Persons — Federal Gov’t

The Federal Government has insisted that defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will not shield suspected corrupt governors or any public officials from ongoing investigations.

This came amid swirling allegations that high-profile political figures have used defections to the ruling party to evade prosecution.

Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, made the government’s stance clear on Friday, following accusations levelled by Mr. Paul Ibe, spokesperson to former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the opposition PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Ibe, in a televised interview earlier in the week, claimed that the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Solicitor General of the Federation secretly met with a former and a sitting governor from the South-South region, just 48 hours before their defections to the APC.

But, responding in a strongly worded statement through his media aide, Mr. Kamarudeen Ogundele, the AGF described the claims as “a figment of imagination” and “from the pit of hell.”

“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,” the AGF stated. “We appeal to the members of the public to disregard the insinuation as it was a feeble attempt to discredit President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration’s fight against corruption.”

He added that President Tinubu’s government remains committed to upholding the rule of law and would not allow political interests to interfere with the anti-corruption agenda.

“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,” Fagbemi asserted.

The EFCC also issued a separate rebuttal on Friday. In a statement by its spokesperson, Mr. Dele Oyewale, the commission dismissed Ibe’s allegations as baseless and politically motivated.

According to Oyewale, the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, is “apolitical” and firmly committed to conducting investigations with neutrality and integrity.

“The allegation that the Chairman of the EFCC 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 commission stated. “The public is enjoined to disregard the alleged meeting with the unnamed governor as it only exists in the imagination of Ibe.”

The EFCC emphasised that Ibe’s comments on defections and corruption probes, made during his May 22 interview, were “sundry theories, conjectures, and assumptions.”