BEVERLY HILLS, April 02, (THEWILL) – Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed his joy and solidarity over the acquittal of High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, the founder of Ray Power and AIT by the Federal Court of Appeal.
Dokpesi was on Thursday acquitted and discharged from the alleged N2.1 billion money laundering charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) related to the arms contracts under former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki.
In the same breath, the country’s former VP and 2019 Presidential Candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) counselled the new EFCC boss to rise above politics as some of his predecessors in the office had pandered to the whims of the current ruling clique.
Atiku reacted to Dokpesi’s judicial victory in a Friday statement signed by Paul Ibe of his media office.
He expressed elation at the outcome of the trial that he said revealed the truth about the lopsided nature of the anti-corruption policy of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
According to Atiku, “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 Vice President 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.
The former Presidential Candidate of the PDP noted that even members of the international community were 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.
Atiku said he was impressed with the appointment of Abdul Rasheed Bawa as EFCC Chairman, but advised him to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors.
The Wazirin Adamawa reminded 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 up 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 guide you aright,” Atiku further told Bawa.
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