Anayochukwu Agbo
It appears to be the beginning of the end for Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, with his suspension by President Muhammadu Buhari. What it suggests is that the allegations raised against him by Abubakar Malami, attorney general of the Federation and minister of justice may have merit after all. Ministry of Justice is the supervising ministry of the EFCC.
Malami’s memo to the President which was leaked to the press, accused the EFCC Chairman of what the Presidency now considers ‘weighty allegations.” He recommended that Magu should be sacked and allegedly recommended three possible replacements.
Malami alleged discrepancies in the reconciliation records of the EFCC and the Federal Ministry of Finance on recovered funds. He declared N539billion instead of N504b earlier claimed. So the poser is, how did he have a surplus of N35b?
The AGF, as the supervising minister, alleged that Magu was disobedient to his office by not seeking his approval on key decisions. He also felt that Magu intentionally did not provide enough evidence for the extradition of ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. Similarly, Malami further alleged late action by Magu on the investigation of Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) leading to legal dispute.
He was also accused of not respecting court order to unfreeze a N7billion judgment in favour of a former Executive Director of First Bank. Likewise, he allegedly delayed acting on two vessels seized by Nigerian Navy leading to the loss of crude.
He was also accused of favouring of some investigators called “Magu’s Boys.” He was further alleged to have reported some judges to their presiding officers without deferring to the AGF. In addition, he was accused of sales of seized assets to cronies, associates and friends, and issuance of investigative activities to some media prejudicial to some cases.
Magu had been functioning in acting capacity since 2015. The Eighth Senate twice turned down Buhari’s request to confirm him.
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