Former Reps Member Gives EFCC 14-Day Ultimatum To Reopen Atiku Financial Crimes Case

ABUJA — A former member of the House of Representatives and former member of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Hon. Ehiozuwa J. Agbonayinma, has given the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) a 14-day ultimatum to reopen and prosecute the alleged financial crimes case involving former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Agbonayinma made the demand through his lawyers, Sagitarian Law Firm, led by Principal Counsel, Hannibal Egbe Uwaifo, SAN, MCArb, Mnim, in a letter dated August 27, 2026, which was received by the EFCC on September 1.

The letter urged the anti-graft agency to reactivate an earlier EFCC investigation and report concerning allegations involving Atiku between 2005 and 2006, when he served as Vice President of Nigeria.

According to the lawyers, the EFCC investigated the allegations and subsequently released a report titled “The EFCC Report on Vice-President Abubakar Atiku (Full Report)”, dated September 2006.

The law firm said the report contained allegations of “sleaze, money laundering, and other serious financial crimes and other criminal acts” involving the former Vice President.

The lawyers further claimed that the EFCC had indicated that it would prosecute Atiku after he left office, when he would no longer enjoy the constitutional immunity applicable to a sitting Vice President, but alleged that no such prosecution took place.

They described the alleged failure to act as a “serious violation” of the law establishing the EFCC and argued that the case had become a reference point in questions surrounding the prosecution of alleged financial crimes involving high-profile individuals.

The lawyers also drew the EFCC’s attention to a report dated February 4, 2010, by the United States Senate Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations, Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.

According to the letter, the US Senate investigation also contained serious allegations involving money laundering and other financial crimes against Atiku.

Agbonayinma’s lawyers asked the EFCC to reactivate both the 2006 EFCC report and the February 4, 2010 United States Senate report as a basis for the “immediate prosecution” of the former Vice President.

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“Our client believes that the present leadership at the EFCC has all it takes to bring Nigeria out of the high corruption index for which the country is presently infamous,” the letter stated.

The lawyers added that prosecution of the case would represent “one of the greatest milestone achievements” of the anti-corruption agency.

The former lawmaker, according to the letter, believes that reopening the case would demonstrate the EFCC’s willingness to tackle alleged corruption involving high-profile individuals and reinforce the principle that nobody is above the law.

The lawyers warned that if the EFCC failed or neglected to act within 14 days of receiving the letter, their client had instructed them to commence legal proceedings against the Commission.

The letter, received by the EFCC on September 1, formally requested the Commission to revisit the allegations and reports and take steps towards what the lawyers described as the immediate prosecution of Atiku.