Allegations made by Paul Ibe, spokesperson for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, suggesting that the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, held a meeting with a sitting governor and his predecessor shortly before their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), have been met with strong denials.
In an interview aired on Channels Television on Thursday, May 22, Ibe claimed that the meeting took place at a government lodge in a south-south state, 48 hours before the unnamed governors officially joined the APC. He further alleged that the Solicitor-General of the Federation was also present at the gathering. Ibe declined to name the individuals involved but implied that the governors were from a south-south state.
The EFCC swiftly dismissed the allegations as baseless. In a statement issued on Friday, May 23, the agency’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, reiterated that Olukoyede remains committed to neutrality and non-partisanship. “Olukoyede has stressed it at several fora that he is apolitical and the EFCC totally wired against partisan tendencies,” the statement read. Oyewale described the claims as “patently fabricated and in bad taste.”
Similarly, Kamarudeen Ogundele, media aide to Attorney-General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi, denounced the allegations as fictitious. “Although he (Ibe) failed to mention their names, the discerning members of the public know those he could have been referring to. However, we wish to state categorically that the allegation is from the pit of hell, and at best, a figment of the imagination of Mr Ibe,” he said.
The controversy comes amid a wave of high-profile defections from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling APC. In April, Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, officially joined the APC. Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno has also indicated plans to defect to the ruling party. Both states are located in Nigeria’s south-south geopolitical zone, the region at the heart of Ibe’s allegations.
The defections have fueled concerns over the growing dominance of the APC and fears of Nigeria drifting toward a one-party political system.
