A group, under the aegis of the National Interest Coalition (NICO, has raised the alarm over what it described as a grand conspiracy by some embattled top government office holders to derail President Bola Tinubu’s anti-corruption fight and destabilise the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The group alleged that the plot, backed by ₦5billion, was designed to blackmail EFCC chairman Olanipekun Olukoyede and smear the anti-corruption drive of the Tinubu administration.
Addressing journalists in Abuja during a solidarity march and world press conference on Monday, NICO leader, Comrade Bashir Abdu, said those behind the alleged conspiracy were desperate men already facing corruption-related cases, who were determined to escape justice at all costs.
According to Abdu, the conspirators have deployed stolen public funds to sponsor negative propaganda against the EFCC leadership and President Tinubu.
He claimed they had gone as far as holding secret meetings with dissident individuals and financing hostile media campaigns through offshore accounts in Dubai.
“They want to divert attention from ongoing investigations that have exposed their dirty dealings. They are empowering some journalists with billions of naira to smear the name of the President and the EFCC leadership. Their intention is simple: to undermine the anti-corruption war and destabilise the government,” Abdu alleged.
He further disclosed that NICO was offered ₦100 million to join the plot but refused, insisting that the anti-graft war must not be derailed.
Thousands of Nigerians joined the coalition’s solidarity march in Abuja, chanting support for President Tinubu’s administration and passing a vote of confidence on the EFCC boss.
NICO listed some of the reforms and achievements under the Tinubu administration and the current EFCC leadership, including granting anti-graft agencies free hands to prosecute cases, blocking leakages through the Treasury Single Account (TSA), strengthening criminal justice processes, recovering billions in stolen assets, and securing hundreds of convictions.
“These desperate attacks are not just against Mr. Olukoyede or the EFCC, they are direct attacks on President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, on the future of Nigeria’s children, and on millions of citizens who want a government that works for them, not for corrupt elites,” the coalition said.
The group urged the President not to be distracted or intimidated, warning that corruption was “fighting back” through orchestrated media campaigns, propaganda, and attempts to paint the anti-corruption war as selective.
They called on civil society groups, labour unions, student associations, religious bodies, and patriotic Nigerians at home and abroad to resist what they described as a “sinister agenda” and defend the country’s anti-corruption institutions.
“This country belongs to over 200 million Nigerians, not to a handful of corrupt men hiding behind propaganda. Let the world hear us: We stand with President Tinubu. We stand with the EFCC. We stand with Olanipekun Olukoyede. And we stand with justice,” NICO declared.
