Once again, the drama of Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade has taken a new twist, and this time, the audience is not clapping. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) finds itself in the eye of a credibility storm after what many Nigerians see as a glaring case of selective justice.
At the center of the controversy is ex-militant leader and government contractor, Government Ekpemupolo, better known as Tompolo, whose recent viral video allegedly shows him spraying naira notes at a public event. The EFCC’s response? A surprising pause. Instead of immediate action, the agency claimed the video is undergoing “forensic analysis” and may even be “AI-generated.” Yes, you read that right—Nigeria’s anti-graft agency has suddenly discovered artificial intelligence.
This newfound caution comes in stark contrast to how swiftly the EFCC moved against popular figures like E-Money and Cubana Chief Priest in similar cases of alleged naira abuse. In those cases, arrests were swift, publicized, and devoid of forensic jargon. But now, with Tompolo in the frame—a man with deep ties to powerful political interests and a government contract to protect Nigeria’s pipelines—the EFCC is asking the public to be patient and let technology speak first.
Understandably, Nigerians are raising eyebrows. Is this the same Commission that once prided itself on being the face of fearless accountability? Or are we now witnessing the slow transformation of justice into a VIP service—where proximity to power determines who gets probed and who gets a pass?
The inconsistency is glaring. When the flamboyant and less connected fall foul of the law, the EFCC pounces with urgency and fury. But when it’s someone within the orbit of state influence, caution and “technical review” suddenly become the standard operating procedure. It’s a tale as old as the republic: when the elite sneeze, the system offers them silk handkerchiefs. When the ordinary citizen coughs, it offers them jail time.
This is no longer just a question of Tompolo. It’s a test of the EFCC’s institutional integrity. Selective justice is injustice. If artificial intelligence can manipulate videos, it can also be used as a smokescreen for institutional bias. Nigerians are not asking for much—just that the scales of justice remain blindfolded, not selective.
We cannot afford a justice system where some are treated like untouchables while others are made scapegoats for media optics. The EFCC must decide whether it wants to be seen as a tool of the powerful or a true defender of the law.
Because in the end, justice should not be a season on Netflix—where only some characters get written out of accountability.
