Former Nigerian vice president Atiku Abubakar Tuesday alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to persecute political opponents, particularly, immediate past Senate president Bukola Saraki. “I believe it is wrong to use the instruments of state to persecute political opponents,” Atiku said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. Prior to Atiku’s statement, the EFCC said it was investigating Saraki’s earnings while he was Kwara State governor between 2003 to 2011 before he emerged Nigeria Senate president in 2015 till 2019. Saraki said the probe into his earnings was a witch-hunt against his person as his earnings while he was Kwara State governor had long been probed before his emergence as Nigeria’s Senate president in 2015. “To single out one individual for persistent investigation can only be logically and plausibly interpreted to be a witch-hunt,” Saraki’s media adviser Yusuph Olaniyonu said in a statement.

Source: The Guardian July 02, 2019 11:01 UTC