by Mohammed Bello Doka
23 April, 2026
In the hallowed chambers of Nigerian jurisprudence, a foundational maxim holds firm: he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. As the dust settles on the recent wave of high-profile arrests, asset forfeitures, and public trials initiated by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a disturbing, lopsided pattern has emerged that threatens to tear the very fabric of our national cohesion.
To be categorically clear, this discourse is in no way a plea for the absolution or support of any individual mentioned. If a public servant has betrayed the trust of the masses, they must face the full weight of the law. However, when the sword of justice consistently swings toward one cardinal point—the North—while remaining comfortably sheathed in the face of glaring allegations in the South, it is no longer a crusade against corruption; it is a clinical, ethnic-centric political purge.
The anatomy of what can only be described as a Northern witch-hunt has become impossible to ignore.
The list of Northern leaders currently under the administrative guillotine reads like a directory of the region’s political heavyweights, and the speed of their prosecution stands in stark contrast to the lethargy shown toward others. As of late April 2026, we have witnessed the Federal High Court in Abuja admit nine exhibits in the ongoing trial of former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who faces a 16-count charge alongside family members for alleged fraud totaling 8.7 billion Naira. Simultaneously, the court is processing a civil suit for the forfeiture of 57 properties valued at 213.2 billion Naira linked to him. In March 2026, the nation watched the ICPC arraign former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai on a 10-count charge involving alleged fraud of 579.6 million Naira and 1.1 million Dollars, leading to his remand in custody.
But the net is cast even wider to ensure the complete erasure of the Northern political vanguard. We see the prosecution of Alhaji Bashir Saidu, the former Chief of Staff and Commissioner for Finance under El-Rufai, who was recently sent back to a custodial centre by the Kaduna State High Court over a 10-count charge alleging the sale of 45 million Dollars in state funds at undervalued rates.
In Sokoto, the judicial commission of inquiry has recently indicted former Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, alleging a misappropriation of over 117 billion Naira. On April 16, 2026, a bench warrant was issued for the arrest of former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Sadiya Umar Farouq after she failed to appear for her arraignment on a 21-count charge involving 1.3 million Dollars and 746.6 million Naira.
Even those who once sat at the cabinet table with the President are not safe; the resignation of Mohammed Badaru Abubakar as Minister of Defence on December 1, 2025, was immediately followed by intense political scrutiny and the targeting of his associates in Jigawa, signaling that loyalty to the administration provides no immunity for a Northerner.
What makes this purge particularly sinister is the ethnic composition of the tools being used to execute it. This Yoruba-dominated government has strategically placed its kinsmen at the helm of every major agency required for a political witch-hunt.
The anti-corruption machinery is now firmly in the hands of Ola Olukoyede, the EFCC Chairman whose appointment broke decades of precedent to ensure a specific type of regional loyalty. Working in tandem is IGP Tunji Disu, the recently appointed Inspector General of Police as of February 2026, and Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu, the Chief of Army Staff. With the Ministry of Justice and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation held by Lateef Fagbemi and the Chief of Staff office held by Femi Gbajabiamila, the President has surrounded himself with a fortress of kinsmen who act as both shield for the South and sword against the North.
While Northern leaders are paraded before the cameras, a deafening silence surrounds the Southern political elite. The public is left to wonder why there has been no significant movement on the allegations against former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, accused of mismanaging over 1 trillion Naira in oil derivation funds. Where is the energy when it comes to probing the Yoruba kinsmen within the current cabinet who have faced credible, public accusations of financial impropriety? Some of these officials have even made public statements regarding wealth acquisition that, under any other administration, would have triggered an immediate invitation. Instead, the broom of the EFCC and ICPC sweeps the streets of Kaduna and Sokoto with vigor, yet it remains remarkably still in the corridors of power in Lagos.
This relentless targeting is the implementation of a long-held philosophy of ethnic dominance. We must not forget the infamous words attributed to President Tinubu during the struggle for democracy, as captured in the national archives: I don’t believe in one Nigeria. Today, that sentiment has evolved into a governance model where the North is treated as a conquered territory to be pacified and politically decapitated.
By dismantling the Northern political class—including those instrumental in his own emergence—President Tinubu is clearing the chessboard of any figure capable of posing a threat to his planned long-term dominance. This is a chilling warning to those Northerners currently close to the corridor of power: do not be deceived by your proximity to the throne. If the pillars of your region, from Sadiya Umar Farouq to Brigadier General MA Sadiq, can be toppled so easily, your time is merely a matter of scheduling.
To the Yoruba political elite currently celebrating this consolidation: do not put all your eggs in one basket. Nigeria is a land of shifting sands. Treating the most populous part of this country as a conquered territory will backfire with a force no maneuvering can contain. You will not be in power forever. Power is a transient lease, and the precedents of selective prosecution you set today will be the same tools used against you when the pendulum swings back.
There is a practical irony here that the Yoruba-led government should consider. While you are busy filling correctional facilities with Northern leaders, you should do as much as possible to fix the Nigerian prisons. Invest in them and ensure they meet international standards of dignity. Do this not out of philanthropy for the Northerners you send there today, but because you will definitely love those improvements when the tables turn and it is your turn to occupy those cells.
History is a relentless bookkeeper. The North is not a conquered territory; it is a sleeping giant that records every slight. The records are being kept, and the law of the land eventually demands a balance that no amount of regional maneuvering can escape.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via [email protected]
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Opinion