Secrets Reporters
A legal firm, Sagitarian Law Firm, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to reopen and prosecute a financial crimes case involving former Vice-President Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, barely four months to the 2027 election.
The demand was contained in a letter dated August 27, 2026, and addressed to the Chairman of the EFCC. The letter bears an EFCC receiving stamp dated September 1, 2026.
The letter signed by the firm’s Principal Counsel, Hannibal Uwaifo, SAN, MCArb, Mnim, was received by EFCC on the 1st of September stated that the firm was cting on the instructions of Hon. Ehiozuwa J. Agbonayinma, a former member of the House of Representatives and former member of the Code of Conduct Bureau.
According to the letter, the EFCC investigated allegations of grand corruption involving Atiku between 2005 and 2006, when he was vice president of Nigeria. Noting that the commission subsequently released a report titled “The EFCC Report on Vice-President Abubakar Atiku (Full Report),” dated September 2006.
It stated that the report established allegations of corrupt practices involving “sleaze, money laundering, and other serious financial crimes and other criminal acts” against Atiku.
The letter further stated that although the EFCC had vowed to prosecute Atiku after he left office as vice president, nothing had been done on the matter.
It said the constitutional immunity covering Atiku as vice president at the time was no longer applicable but alleged that the case had not proceeded despite what it described as public outcry within and outside Nigeria.
The law firm also cited a report by the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Homeland Security, and Government Affairs, dated February 4, 2010.
According to the letter, the US Senate subcommittee conducted investigations into the matter and established allegations involving money laundering and other financial crimes against Atiku.
The firm described the alleged failure to prosecute the case as a “serious violation” of the law establishing the EFCC and called for the matter to be revisited.
It also stated that the case had become a reference point whenever the effectiveness of the EFCC in tackling corruption involving high-profile individuals was discussed.
The firm consequently demanded that the 2006 EFCC report and the February 4, 2010, US Senate subcommittee report be reactivated as the basis for the immediate prosecution of Atiku.
The letter gave the EFCC 14 days to act. “Take notice that if, after 14 days of this letter, your Commission, the EFCC, refuses or neglects to act, our further instruction is to take legal action against your Commission,” the letter stated.
