A former member of the House of Representatives and ex-member of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Hon. Ehiozuwa J. Agbonayinma, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to reopen and prosecute allegations arising from its 2006 investigation involving former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
The demand was contained in a letter dated August 27, 2026, written by Sagitarian Law Firm, led by Principal Counsel Hannibal Egbe Uwaifo, SAN, and addressed to the EFCC Chairman. The document bears an EFCC receiving stamp dated September 1, 2026.
The lawyers said their client was relying principally on an EFCC investigation conducted between 2005 and 2006, when Atiku was vice-president, and a report titled “The EFCC Report on Vice-President Abubakar Atiku (Full Report)”, dated September 2006.
According to the petition, the EFCC investigation examined allegations involving grand corruption and financial impropriety, including issues surrounding Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) funds. The publicly available copy of the 2006 EFCC report records that Atiku was contacted by the commission over questions concerning his role in approving the release and placement of PTDF funds.
The petition further alleges that the EFCC report raised serious concerns about alleged abuse of office, financial misconduct and other offences. The lawyers are asking the commission to reactivate the matter and use the earlier EFCC report, together with a February 4, 2010 report of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, as the basis for renewed investigation and possible prosecution.
The U.S. Senate proceeding is independently documented. On February 4, 2010, the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on “Keeping Foreign Corruption Out of the United States”, which included a case study involving Atiku and financial transactions involving his then-wife, Jennifer Douglas.
The Senate investigation examined more than $40 million in funds that it described as suspicious and traced transactions involving offshore companies and U.S. bank accounts. Those findings concern events between 2000 and 2008 and should not be confused with a new 2026 U.S. investigation.
In the new petition, Agbonayinma’s lawyers accuse the EFCC of failing to follow through on the allegations contained in its earlier report. They argue that allowing the matter to remain unresolved undermines the principle that public officials should be accountable under the law.
The lawyers have given the EFCC 14 days to act. They warned that if the commission refuses or neglects to act within that period, their client has instructed them to commence legal action against the commission.
The petition therefore puts the EFCC under renewed pressure to explain the status of the allegations contained in its 2006 report and whether the commission intends to reopen the matter.
Importantly, the existence of the petition and the historical EFCC and U.S. Senate reports does not by itself establish criminal liability against Atiku. The allegations remain matters for lawful investigation, and any criminal culpability would have to be established through due process.
The development comes as Atiku is a major political figure ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election, adding renewed public attention to financial-crime allegations dating back nearly two decades. Recent reporting confirms that the EFCC petition was received on September 1, 2026.
