Defection to APC will not stop trial of corrupt governors-Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi

The federal government has warned that defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would not deter it from pursing corruption cases against governors and other political office holders.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in a statement that was made available to newsmen by his media aide, Kamarudeen Ogundele, said the President Bola Tinubu’s administration would continue to uphold the rule of law and would not falter in the fight against corruption, no matter whose ox is gored.

The AGF stated FG’s position while refuting a claim by an aide to a former vice president and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the last presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

He said there was no truth in the allegation by Atiku’s aide, Paul Ibe, that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice met a former and incumbent governor of a South-South state 48 hours before their defection to the ruling APC.

The AGF said his attention was drawn to the claim that Atiku’s aide made during an interview he granted on national television.

Describing the allegation as contemptuous, the AGF stressed that though Ibe failed to mention the names of the defectors, “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 Ibe. We know as a fact that the EFCC chairman and the Solicitor General of the Federation never met any serving or former governor as alleged by him.

“We appeal to the members of the public to disregard the insinuation, as it was a feeble attempt to discredit President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration’s fight against corruption.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will continue to uphold the rule of law and will not falter in the fight against corruption no matter whose ox is gored,” the statement read.

Likewise, the EFCC, in a separate statement by its spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, maintained that Ibe’s claims that its Chairman, Ola Olukayode, held a secret meeting with an unnamed politician were unfounded.

The anti-graft agency noted that Atiku’s aide had, on May 22, during the television interview, “bared his mind on sundry theories, conjectures, and assumptions relating to opposition politics and defections.”

It said the allegation that its chairman and the Solicitor General of the Federation met with the said governor before his defection to the APC was “patently fabricated and in bad taste.

“Olukoyede has stressed it at several fora that he is apolitical and the EFCC is totally wired against partisan tendencies. The public is enjoined to disregard the alleged meeting with the unnamed governor, as it only exists in the imagination of Ibe,” EFCC’s statement further read.