Tinubu's EFCC reversal exposes the lie of agency independence

The African Democratic Congress has done what many of us were thinking but lacked the platform to say. In a statement on Thursday, the party directly questioned President Bola Tinubu's claim that the EFCC acted on a court order when it froze Osun State Government accounts. The ADC's National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, asked the question that cuts through all the official noise: "Which court order did you direct EFCC to vacate?"

The party is right. The EFCC never mentioned any court order while defending its action. It said it was acting under its legal powers and its "preventive mandate." So either the President was misinformed, or he chose to misrepresent the facts. As the ADC put it, "Either possibility is deeply disturbing." And that is the mild way of putting it.

Here is what should trouble every Nigerian who believes in the rule of law. The President personally signed a statement directing the EFCC to withdraw, and that is not how independent agencies behave. If he can direct the EFCC to step back because an election is at stake, then he can direct it on anything else. The ADC also pointed out the irony of asking the President to now intervene for Nasir El-Rufai with the ICPC. If the President can control one anti-corruption agency, why not the other? The question is not whether Osun was treated unfairly. The question is whether we still have any institution in this country that answers to the law and not to Aso Rock.