Corruption War: There's Ethnic Bias Against Fulani, Igbo, Hausa, Others By EFCC, ICPC ----Yusuf Usman

... Says only Yoruba are saints 

Former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme NHIS, Yusuf Usman, has questioned the pattern of arrests and persecution of Nigerians of non- Yoruba stock by the anti-corruption agencies under President Bola Tinubu, alleging bias against the EFCC and ICPC. 

According to him, the ICPC and EFCC were treating Nigerians accused of corruption from tribes other than Yoruba as devils while treating Yoruba suspects as saints.

Usman spoke in a recent interview with Symfoni’s Naija Unfiltered, noting perceived trends in the operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, whereby Non- Yoruba were being harassed and hounded.

He further stated that he had not observed arrests involving individuals from Yoruba, particularly by the EFCC, unlike other ethnic groups. 

Usman said, “We have not seen a single Yoruba man grabbed by EFCC. (Aminu) Tambuwal, myself, (Abubakar) Malami, and (Nasir) El-Rufai are all Fulani and have all been arrested, but Yoruba are saints. People are watching.

“Egbira man from Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. We have seen (Chris) Ngige and (Godwin) Emefiele. We’re not talking about whatever they did...

“Geographically, that’s not… You’re not far from clean. No, (Yoruba) they’re saints. They’re safe. That’s how all Yoruba are saints." 

According to Usman, such perceptions of bias are being discussed in parts of the country.

The former NHIS boss further referred to leadership of key agencies while explaining how people interpret developments.

“You know what people are saying? The EFCC is headed by a Yoruba man, right? ...The DSS is headed by a Yoruba man, correct?

“The ICPC is headed by somebody from the Northwest, right?

“So they brought El-Rufai to the ICPC so that they could take care of him. We don’t want to, so that they don’t say he’s Yoruba. We’re watching.”

Usman further mentioned the leadership of the ICPC in relation to regional representation.