TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI – LAGOS — With his rejection by the Senate for confirmation as substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), it remains to be seen if President Muhammadu Buhari will either replace or re-present Ibrahim Magu, the acting Chairman of the EFCC to the upper legislative chamber.
Appointed as EFCC’s acting chairman by the president on November 15, 2015, Magu’s nomination was rejected by the Senate on December 15 last year which said it acted based on security reports forwarded to it by the State Security Service accusing Magu, among other allegations, of benefitting from the proceeds of fraud from an individual being prosecuted by the secret police.
Discordant Tunes In Senate
Announcing the decision of the lawmakers, Senate spokesman, Abdullahi Sabi, who briefed newsmen on the matter, said Magu’s rejection was based on a ‘worrisome’ security report, made available to lawmakers by the DSS.
“The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria wishes to inform the general public that based on security reports available to the lawmakers, we could not proceed and confirm the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as the executive chairman of EFCC.
“Accordingly, the Senate hereby rejects the said nomination and has returned the said nomination to Mr. President for further action. There is no confusion here. We have said it is based on security reports.
“Please, all public officers go for security screening and we are saying based on security reports, we cannot proceed and confirm. We are rejecting it and returning it to Mr. President for further actions. That is just the statement. It is as simple as that. That is exactly what the Senate has said and I do not have any other explanation more than this,” he said.
The development caused a sharp division in the Senate as its Majority Leader; Ali Ndume told State House correspondents that the Red Chamber did not reject Magu’s nomination as EFCC chairman. He said the Upper Legislative Chamber only demanded clarifications from President Buhari, following a report from the DSS.
But faulting Ndume’s claim, Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) described his claim on Magu as disgraceful. According to him “I want to say that the senate is together on this matter. It was conscientiously discussed and the agreement is total but it is laughable and disgraceful for me to see the leader of the House come up with an hypocritical position later” .
“But I am sure that that will be handled at its own level but I assure you that there was a resolution of the Senate and this resolution was communicated in the votes and proceedings that came after it and there was no dissenting voice. He was seated when the Senate president read the resolution of the Senators in the executive session and he didn’t raise any negativity to it. He didn’t ask and question”.
Also, in a related development, Chairman of the senate committee on the Judiciary, Senator David Umaru, said the issue of Magu’s confirmation has not been discussed at plenary.
Speaking with newsmen in Minna, Umaru who represents Niger East senatorial district in the senate said that “the issue of Magu was never voted on in plenary, so as far as I am concerned Magus’nomination was never rejected”.
“If somebody say it was rejected it was probably mistake, me, I have not voted. The senate operates by rules the rule is that this thing must be presented to us either by the committee or through direct interaction with the members in plenary none of this has happened”.
“The issue of Magu was discussed only in the executive session of the senate. It was not an issue discussed at plenary so anything done in the executive session is not the same thing as that done in plenary, so as far as I am concerned the issue of Magu, the consideration of his nomination was never considered by the senate”.
Presidency Denies Removal
While waiting for the position of the presidency on the matter, a newspaper report on New Year’s eve reported that Magu had been redeployed to the Nigerian Police Force to enable a fresh nominee to be forwarded by President Buhari to the Senate. It also reported that Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation, had already issued a redeployment letter to Magu directing him to hand over to the Director of Operations in the Commission.
The presidency quickly dismissed the report in a tweet by The Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, in series of tweets on his Twitter handle, (@GarShehu, said no report has been made available to the Presidency by the Attorney General of the Federation on the matter.”
He twitted: “We are reading reports that the @officialEFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu has been sacked. No report has been made available to the Presidency by the Attorney General of the federation over the matter.”
Also speaking, the AGF, Malami distanced himself from any plot against Magu, pointing that that doing anything against him would amount to working against Buhari’s graft war. He said “Let me just say that there is no truth whatever in the ongoing claims that we are working against each other. There is absolutely nothing like that,” Malami said.
Sagay, Momoh React
While Nigerians are waiting for the president’s decision on the issue, some Nigerians have spoken in favour of the embattled EFCC boss. Speaking with Independent, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti- Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) said the rejection of Magu by the senate is tantamount to corruption fighting back and the president should not succumb to that.
Sagay, who said the report used in indicting Magu has no basis said President Buhari should re-present his name to the Senate. Failure to do so, according to him will spell doom for the war against corruption.
“Absolutely, his name should be re-presented to the Senate for confirmation. As I said earlier in one of my statements, he is one of the best we’ve ever had. His activity is reminiscent of the (Nuhu) Ribadu era where the EFCC was really very dynamic, active and productive”.
“We cannot afford to lose his services. I will definitely encourage President Buhari to re-present his name because he has done nothing. The reports against have no basis and the conclusions are all wrong. We all know that he was not the one who hired the house he lives in; it was the government itself”.
“So, anybody attacking him on the basis of that is only attacking the government and a government agency over which he has no control. So, for me, all these things constitute corrupting fighting back. Some group of people within government itself trying to deprive us of the services of this man of integrity. It will be a great loss to the corruption struggle if his name is not re-presented” he said.
Also reacting to the development, a former Minister of Information and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Tony Momoh said the senate’s rejection of Magu is not an attempt to frustrate President Buhari’s anti-corruption war.
“No. I think people are misjudging the senate in spite of what may have been happening. Yes, majority of those who are indicted in the anti-corruption war are in the senate and in other spheres of life. Senate will do its work, which is making laws. Confirmation of an appointee is part of the functions of the senate and they cannot for personal reasons override national assignments”.
“Magu was not rejected. He was not even interviewed. What the senators said was that there was a security report and on the basis of that, they will not interview him. In other words, they will not confirm him. In my own way, if I were there, I would have asked Magu questions on what the DSS report said so as to hear his own side of the story but they didn’t. But it is in their own wisdom. They said they are sending him back to Mr. President. The president, on his part can send him back to the senate for confirmation”.
“If you can recall, former president Olusegun Obasanjo sent Babalola Borisade to the senate for confirmation as minister. The senators rejected but Obasanjo re-sent his name three times. So, the president can send Magu or any other person he deems fit as many times as he wants and the senate can return the names as many times as they want. But as long as Magu is there and the president does not have any information to the contrary, he can remain acting chairman for as long as the president wants” he said.
Fayose Faults Delay In Magu’s Removal
Also sharing his thoughts on the Magu debacle, Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, declared that President Buhari is only fighting his perceived political foes under the guise of fighting corruption, while at the same time trying to make sure that no opposition politician will be strong enough financially to contest against him in 2019. He said for the country to move forward, the president must create opportunities beyond political consideration.
According to his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose, who was speaking in a statement yesterday, questioned the rationale behind the President’s directive to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami to investigate the Department of State Services (DSS) report on the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu.
“Magu was indicted by their own DSS and they are still saying the AGF should investigate, is AGF the police? After Magu had been indicted by the DSS, what are they investigating again? Are them saying DSS report is no longer credible?
“As far as I am concerned, President Buhari is not fighting any, corruption. He is fighting his political foes. They are just trying to make all Nigerians paupers so that when they share N1,000 at the polling units, it will be like N1m. God is a God of single-standard, not double-standard. This Buhari’s government is a government of double-standard.”
While waiting for the decision of President Buhari on this crucial matter, analysts have opined that the removal or retention of Magu will go a long way in shaping the president’s anti-corruption war in the days ahead.
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