By Bola BOLAWOLE
turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533; 0803 251 0193
“Tinubu has called the independence of the EFCC into question – except the EFCC can emulate the president by summoning up courage to tell him ‘No, Sir, we have the powers to do what we did and do not take instructions from you!’ Anything short of that compromises the EFCC, damaging its reputation and integrity. It also leaves the president himself exposed to allegations of undue interference in EFCC’s operational affairs”
Ever heard of the saying that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions? That is how I describe President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s good intentions concerning EFCC’s macabre dance over Osun state’s bank accounts a few days to governorship election in a state in which the incumbent governor, Jackson Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke, is a contestant on the platform of the opposition Accord Party. Adeleke recently defected from the troubled PDP into his new party.
Tinubu said he felt embarrassed by the timing of EFCC’s action – less than two weeks to off-season governorship election in Osun state. Why? The president reasoned, and rightly so, that the EFCC decision would be hanged on his (Tinubu’s) neck. And, truth be told, no typical Nigerian, not to talk of opposition politicians, will ever believe that the EFCC could take such a far-reaching, combustible decision without sounding out or even getting clearance and go-ahead from Mr. President! Even now, how many people will believe that the EFCC action was not deliberately taken and meant to tie the hands of Gov. Adeleke and his party and hand over the advantage to APC, the president’s party?
Don’t forget that Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola, the immediate past Osun state governor who was trounced by Adeleke in the governorship election four years ago, is reportedly the president’s nephew. After losing reelection, the president appointed Oyetola the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, making him the highest-ranking political office holder and, as such, the political leader – or one of the political leaders – of APC in that state. So, much is expected of him by his party to ensure that they win next Saturday’s governorship election.
This is apart from the fact that Oyetola has his own axe to grind with Adeleke, the man who denied him reelection four years ago. So, it will be sweet revenge – what in political parlance here is called “return match” – if Oyetola can also deny Adeleke reelection next Saturday. So, the stakes are really high. Whoever wins on Saturday is also expected to have what is called “bandwagon effect” on local government, State House of Assembly. National Assembly and presidential elections down the line.
State governors are powerful in Nigeria’s political configuration and permutations; so, Adeleke as a sitting governor has what is called here the power of incumbency. The coffers of the state are at his beck and call, apart from the immense wealth of the Adeleke dynasty. Unfortunately for him, however, he is equally matched, if not completely dwarfed, by the intimidating factors at the beck and call of Oyetola and APC. APC controls the government at the Centre, and this is called “Federal Might”, usually ubiquitous and unassailable, except where the people themselves stand rock solid against it like the Rock of Gibraltar.
As a former governor and sitting Minister of a “Grade A” ministry, Oyetola cannot be a pauper, even if he has never dipped his hand into the common till. Few men attain the dizzy heights he has attained and remain poor. Besides, APC is the party at the Centre and their leaders have access to the nation’s Treasury. Whether or not they will avail themselves of this opportunity to outspend the Adelekes is another matter entirely. But don’t ever forget the saying: “Owo ilu l’a fi n se oselu!” It is a Yoruba proverb which says no one spends his own personal funds on politics (but that) it is public funds that is spent to run for public office! Some Yoruba proverbs!
These – and the orgy of violence and blood-letting that has painted Osun state scarlet – were the issues on ground before the EFCC raised the political temperature of the state to breaking point with its controversial decision. Did the EFCC act solo or was it being tele-guided? President Tinubu has washed his hands off it. The question, then, is: who dunnit? Was the EFCC seemingly trying to read the body language of the powers-that-be, thinking it is helping the APC so that one good turn can deserve another?
Another Yoruba proverb says if you want to walk on wet grounds, you need to pour water ahead of you! It is not politicians alone that fight tooth-and-nail for a second term; political office-holders also do, if you understand what I mean! Appointed by President Tinubu on October 12, 2023 and confirmed by the Senate on October 18, 2023, EFCC’s Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, can enjoy a renewable term of four years (up to year 2031) at the pleasure of Mr. President.
But with the unsavoury turn of events, has the EFCC boss not burnt his fingers? Opinion is divided. First is the legality of his action. The law, according to some, is on the EFCC’s side. But effective administration is not only about legality; commonsense and discretion also play indispensable roles. And points of law apart, was the EFCC decision politically-motivated, akin to the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele’s decision to change the country’s currency, announced in October 2022 but made effective just two months after on December 15, 2022? That decision was widely perceived as being targeted at Tinubu, the then APC candidate in the presidential election held on Saturday, February 25, 2023.
Emefiele gave two month’s window of opportunity; the EFCC gave none, announcing the freezing of Osun state bank accounts on August 5, 2026, 10 days before the Osun governorship election slated for Saturday, 15 August, 2026. Can we then say that Emefiele, who has variously been in DSS and EFCC custody since July 10, 2023 on charges of corruption, was a more considerate and compassionate entity?
Could these analogies have been part of what played on Tinubu’s mind, thereby informing his quick response to EFCC’s freezing of Osun state government’s bank accounts? Or could it have been a change of heart on Tinubu’s part? Tinubu as the Lagos state governor challenged the Federal Government of President Olusegun Obasanjo for withholding the allocations of Lagos state local governments over his (Tinubu’s) creation of additional local governments in the state, but the same Tinubu as president has, since February 2025, consented to the withholding of Osun state local government allocations believed to now total N130 billion! Could this have been what emboldened the EFCC?
Tinubu said he was not consulted before the EFCC took its decision: Does it mean the president expected to have been consulted? Has the EFCC been consulting him before acting on sensitive matters? If so, where does that leave the independence of the anti-corruption agency? And will that not provide ammunition for those alleging selective prosecution of the anti-corruption war? Remember a one-time NLC president, ex-state governor, ex-APC national chairman and now senator who said that regardless how crimson or scarlet your sins are, once you join the ruling party, those sins are forgiven?
Tinubu also said the timing of the EFCC decision was inauspicious. I am surprised EFCC itself did not consider that angle or was the timing specifically and deliberately chosen for effect? Tinubu is not regarded as one of the greatest political strategists of our time for nothing. When the Lagos State House of Assembly members impeached their speaker on January 13, 2025, Tinubu reportedly ordered them to reinstate the speaker! Yes, party leaders were aware of the allegations against the speaker – and many more – but the timing was inauspicious! There are more ways than one to kill a rat – especially one that gobbles billions of Naira! The speaker in question has quietly eased himself out of contention by applying to go to the House of Representatives in the next dispensation.
The maxim: When you are still needed, you are protected by all means. But once you are no longer needed, you are dispensed with!
So, Tinubu’s “the timing is wrong” of today is not an eternal exculpation of Gov. Adeleke. What Tinubu is simply saying is that “a-bo-wa-ba l’oro ologbeni yi!” Let me wrap up this second term business first! But in doing so, Tinubu’s aircraft overshot the tarmac. For reasons best known to him, he revealed too much with the statement he issued and nailed himself by personally signing it, removing every possibility of anyone taking the fall for him.
Tinubu has called the independence of the EFCC into question – except the EFCC can emulate the president by summoning the courage to tell him “No, Sir, we have the powers to do what we did and do not take instructions from you!” Anything short of that compromises the EFCC, damaging its reputation and integrity. It also leaves the president himself exposed to allegations of undue interference in EFCC’s operational affairs. If such a president comes around tomorrow and tells you INEC is independent and will conduct free and fair elections without any interference, what will you say to him, pointing at this instance of the EFCC?
Why Tinubu took this gamble beats my imagination! Obviously, he considered one side without carefully looking at the other side before acting. I will liken his case to that of someone who surveyed just one side of the road and not both sides before attempting to cross the road – and the result? Could this, then, be another instance of the president bolting from the grip of advisers – like he did in the celebrated case of “subsidy is gone”?
The irony of it, however, is this: Had Tinubu acted “hear nothing, see nothing, and say nothing” on this matter, he would still have received the flak for doing nothing! True, then, are the evergreen words of Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey in his didactic and evergreen song titled: “The Horse, The Man and The Son”: Ko s’ogbon t’o le da/Ko s’iwa t’o le hu/Ko s’ona t’o le mo/T’o le fi t’aiye l’orun o.”
There is no pleasing the world! The beauty of it, however, is that all this Kitikiti-kitikiti/kirakita-Kirakita, like King Sunny Ade also crooned, is just for a while! M’o fe d’ogun/M’o fe d’ogbon soon comes to an end. It has an expiry date. Why not ask yourself: What of the men and women of yesteryears? Are you the first? And will you be the last?
* Former editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/Editor-in-chief of The Westerner news magazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.
