A coalition of civil society groups under the banner of the National Interest Coalition staged a large protest in Abuja on Monday against what they described as a \u201cgrand plot\u201d by senior public officials to derail President Bola Tinubu\u2019s anti-corruption agenda and weaken the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).<\/p>\n
The demonstration began after a press conference convened by the group in the Central Area and proceeded through the Three Arms Zone home to the Presidential Villa, National Assembly, and Supreme Court before ending at the EFCC headquarters in Jabi.<\/p>\n
Led by Comrade Bashir Abdu, the protesters carried placards, chanted solidarity songs, and later submitted a petition at the EFCC office. The petition expressed support for EFCC Chairman, Olanipekun Olukoyede, and pledged to resist what the group called attempts to \u201cblackmail and smear\u201d the Commission\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have uncovered the evil plot by some current occupiers of top government positions to attack the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, and President Bola Tinubu\u2019s anti-corruption war. This protest is to show the whole world that we will resist their attempts and support Mr. President and Mr. Chairman of EFCC to succeed,\u201d Abdu said.<\/p>\n
The group accused unnamed officials of trying to frustrate reforms within the Commission, citing fears over ongoing prosecutions and convictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose behind this grand plot have the sole intention of derailing President Tinubu and the EFCC chairman\u2019s resolve to fight corruption to its barest minimum so that development, equity, and transparency can thrive in the country which has been held back by this cankerworm,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
The protesters referenced recent EFCC statistics, highlighting 4,111 convictions in 2024\u2014an operational record since the agency\u2019s establishment in 2003\u2014alongside ongoing prosecutions of politically exposed persons. They also noted asset recoveries, international collaborations, and preventive measures such as Integrity Clubs in schools and fraud risk assessments in public institutions.<\/p>\n
The coalition\u2019s petition included examples of EFCC\u2019s actions under Olukoyede, including the recovery of properties for the Enugu State government, prosecution of four former governors, and recognition from international partners such as the Canadian High Commission.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators also passed a vote of confidence in Tinubu for giving the EFCC \u201ca free hand to operate,\u201d urging Olukoyede to continue his initiatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is therefore on this note that the General Assembly of the Nigeria Interest Coalition pass a vote of confidence on the EFCC Chairman and urges him to continue the good work and not rest on his oars. In fact, as we say in local parlance, \u2018Continue dey press their neck! Press am well well! No gree for any looter,\u201d the group declared.<\/p>\n
The march ended peacefully at the EFCC headquarters, where security operatives monitored the movement without incident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A coalition of civil society groups under the banner of the National Interest Coalition staged a large protest in Abuja on Monday against what they described as a \u201cgrand plot\u201d by senior public officials to derail President Bola Tinubu\u2019s anti-corruption agenda and weaken the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The demonstration began after a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,55],"tags":[13],"class_list":{"0":"post-40027","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-national","9":"tag-featured"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96020,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40027\/revisions\/96020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datelineafro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}