Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, has insisted that being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) does not stop a person from participating in political campaigns or canvassing votes for a candidate.
Wike, who spoke during a media parley in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, said even a person serving a prison sentence could canvass votes for a political candidate.
The former Rivers State governor made the remarks while defending the inclusion of persons facing allegations or investigations in political campaign structures.
The comments followed the controversy trailing the appointment of former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, as Director of Women Mobilisation in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
Edu was suspended by President Tinubu in January 2024 following allegations of financial impropriety and was subsequently investigated by the EFCC.
However, Wike argued that an ongoing investigation should not automatically prevent anyone from participating in political activities, particularly where the person has not been convicted.
“You were asking the moral justification of putting someone who has an EFCC case to be in a campaign council. And I was just watching the lady. The lady doesn’t even know what to say,” Wike said.
“Now, somebody cannot be in a campaign to canvass for votes for a particular person, but somebody who has an EFCC case can contest an election and win an election?”
Wike said there had been instances where individuals facing criminal allegations and even court cases contested elections and emerged victorious.
“This person had an EFCC case in court, charged to court. He contested an election and became a governor,” he said, without mentioning the person’s name.
Taking his argument further, the minister said a prisoner could also express support for a candidate and canvass votes through people who visited him.
“Listen. Even a prisoner… maybe they have somebody in prison. I go and visit the person. The person can tell me, ‘My brother, I want you to support so-and-so candidate.’ A prisoner has canvassed for vote,” Wike said.
He also referred to an unnamed individual allegedly linked to a coup plot, questioning why a person being investigated or accused of an offence should be barred from campaigning for a candidate.
Wike maintained that a political party had the right to decide who could work in its campaign structure, insisting that an EFCC investigation alone was not enough reason to exclude a person from political participation.
“But a party, or a candidate cannot, simply because EFCC is investigating the person, cannot be a member of the campaign council to campaign for votes,” he said.
The controversy over Edu’s inclusion had earlier drawn a response from APC campaign council spokesperson, Kemi Asekun-Shittu, who said the former minister had not been found guilty of any offence.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, Asekun-Shittu said it would be unfair to deny Edu the opportunity to participate in political activities while the EFCC investigation was ongoing.
“She has not been found guilty. And it will be unfair to ask that she leaves her life or refuses to live her life until the EFCC declares her,” she said.
Asekun-Shittu added that every Nigerian had the right to participate in politics and that the APC could determine the composition of its campaign structure.
She said the campaign council list was not final and could still be reviewed.
Edu has not been publicly declared guilty of any offence in relation to the EFCC investigation.
