Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed his excitement over the clearing of the alleged N2.1 billion money laundering charges against the founder of Ray Power and AIT, Raymond Dokpesi.
On Thursday, the Federal Court of Appeal had acquitted Mr Dokpesi of the alleged money laundering charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Mr Atiku, in a statement by his media office, Paul Ibe, said he was elated with the outcome of the trial because it revealed the truth about the lopsided nature of the anti-corruption policy of the Buhari administration.
He said: “The entire anti-corruption trials appear to be focused on opposition politicians, thereby casting doubts on the credibility of the anti graft agency.”
The former VP recalled that during the 2019 presidential election, the EFCC focused its time and resources on harassing and arraigning aides of opposition politicians, while it was indifferent to how members of the ruling party were financing their campaigns.
Atiku noted that even members of the international community are now coming to terms with the reality that the anti-corruption crusade is not impartial, and that the government is now using the anti-corruption policy to contrive charges against those they want to use to advance certain political objectives.
He, therefore, called on the new EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors.
Mr Atiku reminded Mr Bawa that his success would inevitably be determined by Nigerians and not by the government of the day and the ruling party.
“As a young man of great intellect and confidence, I’m confident that you are equal to the task. You must be ready to restore the glory of the EFCC by changing its public perception as a political tool of the government in power.
“Let your conscience and history judge you. But you can only do so if you resist external manipulation. May Allah guides you aright,” Mr Atiku further told Mr Bawa.
