Smear Campaign Against Tinubu, EFCC Boss Exposed

A fresh storm is brewing around President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s anti-corruption drive as a coalition under the banner of the National Interest Coalition (NICO) has raised alarm over what it calls a “?5 billion smear campaign” targeted at the administration and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

At a world press conference in Abuja, NICO’s leader, Comrade Bashir Abdu, alleged that some embattled senior officials facing corruption-related cases had pooled resources to blackmail EFCC Chairman, Olanipekun Olukoyede, and discredit the government’s anti-graft war.

According to Abdu, the alleged conspirators are “desperate men” who have been diverting stolen public funds into financing hostile propaganda, sponsoring dissident voices, and even running offshore accounts in Dubai to bankroll the campaign.

“Their intention is simple: to undermine the anti-corruption war and destabilise the government,” he declared.

Abdu further revealed that NICO itself was approached with an ?100 million offer to join the campaign but refused, insisting that the battle against graft must not be compromised.

The coalition staged a solidarity march through Abuja, drawing thousands of supporters who chanted pro-Tinubu slogans and passed a vote of confidence on Olukoyede’s leadership. For NICO, the campaign of calumny is not just an attack on the EFCC boss but “a direct strike on President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.”

NICO highlighted key reforms credited to the Tinubu administration and the EFCC under Olukoyede, including:

• Unhindered prosecution powers for anti-graft agencies.
• Tighter controls through the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
• Strengthened criminal justice processes.
• Recovery of billions in stolen assets.
• Securing of hundreds of convictions.

“These desperate attacks are not against Olukoyede alone,” the coalition said, “but against the future of Nigeria’s children and millions of citizens who want a government that works for them, not corrupt elites.”

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The coalition warned that “corruption is fighting back,” using orchestrated media campaigns and propaganda to paint the EFCC’s work as selective. It called on civil society groups, labour unions, student bodies, religious institutions, and Nigerians in the diaspora to resist what it described as a “sinister agenda.”

“This country belongs to over 200 million Nigerians, not to a handful of corrupt men hiding behind propaganda. We stand with President Tinubu. We stand with the EFCC. We stand with justice,” NICO declared.