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  • Corruption is mother of all crimes, says EFCC chair Magu

    Corruption is mother of all crimes, says EFCC chair Magu

    The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, yesterday said corruption is mother of all crimes and must be fought to a standstill.

    He said the anti-graft war will be premised on the rule of law and protection of the rights of every citizen.

    He, however, said women are least corrupt than men going by the statistics of suspects on trial by the EFCC.

    Magu made the submissions, while receiving a delegation of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) which was led by its President, Dr. Gloria Laraba Shoda.

    He said: “If Nigerian women support anti-corruption campaign, the war is half won.”

    He said:  “Corruption is an evil; it is a crime against humanity; it is a mother of all crimes. Let everybody support the fight against corruption. No doubt, it is common knowledge that corruption is the major problem undermining the development of our country.

    “It has also been stated that the nation needs the involvement of all citizens, if the fight against corruption is to be successful. Since I assumed office as Chairman of the EFCC, I have often stated that I do not have a monopoly of knowledge about this fight and that all Nigerians must join me in this important battle to free our country from the grip of corruption.”

    He restated the commitment of the commission to the rule of law.

    Magu added: “May I reiterate the fact that our being here today is by the wish of Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief, and the enormous goodwill enjoyed by this commission from all stakeholders. Our activities are largely guided by the laws of the land.

    “While fighting corruption, we are always mindful of the rights and

    privileges of individuals both within and outside the government.

    To this end, the prosecution of all suspects, high and low, is premised on the rule of law, with modicum and respect for the dignity of man.

    “Look, the interest of the people of this country should come first. To us, protecting the interest of Nigeria should be paramount. We should do everything with the fear of God and the interest of Nigeria is more appropriate.”

    The EFCC chairman commended the National Assembly and the judiciary for supporting the war against corruption.

    He said: “It is also important to use this medium to further appreciate the moral support being given by the legislative arm as exemplified by the National Assembly.

    “I equally appreciate the judiciary for the progress in the prosecution of some of our cases. It is gratifying to note that the commission yesterday secured the conviction of some oil subsidy fraudsters who were sentenced to ten years imprisonment. That was the first conviction in the subsidy fraud case.”

    Responding to a question, Magu said: “Going by statistics of suspects and generally, women are least corrupt. I grew up with my grandmother and I still remember some of the things she used to tell me. Women are people who nurture us; they tell us what is right, what is wrong. They are generally least corrupt.

    “We believe that women as mothers and wives occupy strategic positions to properly mould their children to be good citizens and also prevent their spouses from engaging in fraudulent activities.

    “I have taken note of your demand and the need to have a working relationship with the umbrella body of all women organizations in this country, the NCWS.

    “We will take your suggestions as mothers of the country and see how we can reach all Nigerians and sustain their support for this must-win battle against corruption.

    “This is what inspired one of my pet projects, the Women Against Corruption Programme (WAC), designed to mobilize womenfolk to become soldiers in the battle against corruption”.

    The South-West launch of the programme is scheduled to hold in Lagos on February 22, 2017 and we will be counting on your support to make it a success.

    Earlier in her remarks, Shoda said NCWS concerns border on “ridding our nation of the grips of corruption and restore it back to order.

    “We are here as concerned mothers. A mother is the manager of the home, a good wife and protector of the home.

    “We are here to tell you that as mothers, wives and serious stakeholders in the Nigerian project, we want a Nigeria that can guarantee a peaceful home, one that is secure; a Nigeria where we can access good education and health care for ourselves, our children and our husbands.

    “We want a nation that can boast of good roads across the nation; a Nigeria where our agricultural sector is functional and ranked among the best in the world, not just for the sake of economic diversification policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, but also to ensure that our nation rapidly attains food security.

    “Mr. Chairman, achieving these basic developmental goals and many more is possible when resources in the public trusts are properly utilized for the purposes for which they were appropriated, and this has continually been the bane of our country.

    “We believe that in order to stop these wastages and financial indiscipline in the land, this administration has thrown itself fully revamping the nation and removing corruption from our psyche, or at least reducing it to the barest minimum.

    “We want to assure you, Mr. Chairman, that all women societies in Nigeria, which have assembled under the NCWS, are fully behind the President on this. We pledge the full support of Nigerian women for the good work the EFCC is doing as an institution.

    “All of us can attest to the consistency of the president in fighting corruption and raising the benchmark in public service. Hence we can see behavioural changes and compliance to the rules of due process. Through several initiatives to back the fight, the EFCC has proven to be an effective institution of government to arrest the tide.

    “On daily basis, government has continued to block loopholes through many of its policies, among them is the full implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which has narrowed routes through which our resources were pilfered. We are proud of that.

    “Someone may want to ask, why are we here? Mr. Chairman, we are here in solidarity with the anti-corruption fight of President Muhammadu Buhari; we are here in support of the EFCC as an institution, we are here to partner with you and many other Nigerians out there, for the restoration of our nation on the path of dignity, on the road to recovery and sustained development of our nation.”

    Shoda urged the EFCC not to relent in its ongoing war against corruption in order to protect the nation’s future.

    She added: “Without this fight, the future is bleak, our hope may be lost, our advancement as a people would continue to be arrested and I want to state that our humanity as women, as husbands and as children would diminish.

    “Before I conclude, Mr. Chairman, we are the women of Nigeria; we are the ones who feel the pains more, we are the ones at the receiving end of all these vices. The Holy Book says, ‘If the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?’

    “We stand with your institution for the anti-corruption crusade, for you have asked women to collaborate with you, but please, recognize the wisdom and skills of women as good and trusted managers. And accord them recognition at all times!

    “We want to encourage the EFCC under your supervision to keep up the good work in assisting President Muhammadu Buhari to rebuild Nigeria’s foundation in order to actualize his much-desired dream of bequeathing a nation that is respected in the comity of nations as incorruptible, prosperous and secured.”

  • ‘I was removed because of Magu’

    ‘I was removed because of Magu’

    Senate Leader Ali Ndume yesterday said he   lost the plum seat because he backed Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu.
    He described himself as a victim of “parliamentary coup”.
    But he said God will fight back for him.
    Ndume, who spoke exclusively with our correspondent, said there was no record of where and how the Senate Caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) met to decide his sack.
    He said no allegations were levelled against him  either by the Senate or the APC Senate Caucus.
    Said Ndume: “I went to pray  and I handed over to my deputy to take charge but by the time I came back, I was told that APC Caucus had selected a new Senate Leader.
    “I did not know how the Caucus arrived at this decision. Nobody confronted me with allegations of any misdemeanour or infraction.
    “I was not invited to any Caucus meeting. Nobody circulated any notice of any meeting. Some of my colleagues said they were not aware of any Caucus meeting or where it was held.  I even wanted to get the number of those at the Caucus meeting, there is no record.
    “This is a parliamentary coup because many of my colleagues said they were not aware of any Caucus meeting. But so be it. God gave me that position and if that is His  wish that I should leave, I have left everything to God.
    “Had it been that I was found wanting of any allegation, I will not be surprised. All I know is that God will fight back for me.”
    Asked to be specific on what he suspected to have accounted for his removal, Ndume added: “I did no wrong, except the issue of the confirmation of the Acting EFCC chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, which brought up some issues. There was a disagreement on Magu beginning with my fight with Sen. Dino Melaye.
    “Based on legislative procedure, I said Magu had not been rejected by the Senate. Shortly after that, there were rumours of collection of signatures to remove me.
    “Even at that, we met at the Senate leadership level on Monday, there was no complaint against me. I was not aware that the leadership was not happy with me. There was no allegation against me at all. Certainly, it is a coup.”
    Our correspondent learnt that Ndume’s fate was sealed at a secret meeting by some Senators in Dubai.
    It was gathered that the Senators relocated to Dubai to avoid the leakage of the plot, which was masterminded by some loyalists of Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki.
    “The masterminds went to Dubai to plot how Ndume will be sacked. We suspected that a principal officer was with them in the UAE.
    “They went to Dubai to avoid the prying eyes of Ndume and his network of friends in the Senate,” a source said.
    The Nation had exclusively reported the collection of signatures against Ndume and the secret meeting in Dubai .
    Some Senators, who pleaded not to be named, gave insights into the intrigues which led to Ndume’s sack.
    A Senator said: “Some senators were angry that Ndume distanced himself from the decision of the Executive Session on Magu. We were all embarrassed. As Senate Leader, he was duty-bound to defend the decision of the Senate no matter how distasteful it was to him.
    “We took note of the fact that he had openly dissented with the Senate on two or three instances like this.”
    A senator from the Northwest said: “Ndume emerged Senate Leader as a product of treachery, he has been consumed by a robust treachery.”
    Another said: “Ndume’s sack was restricted to APC Caucus because of the large influence he wields across parties. If it is a plenary decision, the mastermind might not secure the majority.
    “And the good thing is that it is the responsibility of the APC Caucus to choose the Senate Leader. What we did was to dust up the June 23, 2015 directive of APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to effect the change.
    “As a matter of fact, as part of plans to reunite the Senate and consolidate Saraki’s leadership, we have decided to fully reintegrate the aggrieved members of the Unity Forum.
    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun’s letter to the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki bordered on  the party’s position on the principal officers for the 8th National Assembly.
    The June 23 letter to Saraki, said: “Please find below for your necessary action names of principal officers approved by the party, after extensive consultations for the 8th Senate as follows: Sen.Ahmed  Lawan (Majority Leader)—North-East; Prof. Sola Adeyeye (Chief Whip)—Southwest; Sen. George Akume( Deputy Majority Leader)—Northcentral; and Sen. Abu Ibrahim(Deputy Chief Whip)—North-West.

  • U.S. Embassy team takes on Magu over DSS allegations

    U.S. Embassy team takes on Magu over DSS allegations

    •I’m innocent,
    says acting chair

    United States Ambassador to Nigeria W. Stuart Symington and his key staff have met Acting Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC) Chairman Ibrahim Magu on the allegations levelled against him by the Department of State Services (DSS). The meeting was held on Friday, a source told The Nation.
    Magu was said to have told the team that he was innocent of all the allegations raised by the security agency, which aborted his confirmation as EFCC Chairman by the Senate.
    It was an informal session, the source said.
    It was learnt that the session was part of the Embassy’s interest in the nation’s anti-corruption campaign.
    It was gathered that the interaction might assist the US team to have a broader appraisal of the controversy on Magu’s nomination, which was not considered by the Upper Chamber.
    The source said: “The US Embassy took on Magu on every issue in the DSS report to ascertain whether or not he committed the infractions levelled against him.
    “The team wanted to know if Magu had indeed failed the integrity test which made the United States to support him.
    “The Acting EFCC chairman responded to every issue without betraying his emotion. At the end, Magu said he was innocent of all the allegations against him.
    “He said he has also responded to the query given to him by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN),” the source said, pleading not to be named because he is not allowed to talk to the media on the issue.
    Responding to a question, the source said: “The U.S.  Embassy team was satisfied with Magu’s response. The Ambassador and others later took a photograph with him.”
    “With this session, we are hopeful that the US support for the anti-corruption campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari will be more enhanced,” the source added.
    Following the persistent intrigues over Magu’s fate, some donor agencies, anti-graft war partners and foreign missions have been anxious about the future of the battle.
    Most of them were said to be sympathetic to the retention of Magu whom they have rated high.
    The DSS alleged that Magu’s accommodation in Abuja was paid for by a “corrupt businessman” and that he flew first class to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj, contrary to federal government’s directive to its officials not to travel in the elite cabin.
    Magu was also accused of being illegally in possession of confidential EFCC documents when he was a director in 2007.
    He was queried by Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami who was nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the allegations.

  • Magu, Lawal et al

    It is as well relieving that President Buhari has ordered investigation into allegations of corruption involving some top officials of his current administration. According to a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu, the President “instructed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to investigate the involvement of any top official accused of any wrongdoing. If any of them is liable he will not escape prosecution”.

    The terse statement did not indicate those to be investigated. But two key officers in his regime: the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, Ibrahim Magu and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF Babachir Lawal have been in the storm over allegations of corruption.

    Magu penultimate week, failed the confirmation test by the Senate based on damning allegations against his suitability for that sensitive post. The Senate cited a report from the Directorate of State Security Services DSS which accused Magu of flamboyant lifestyle as portrayed by the cost of his living apartment rented at N40 million Naira- N20 million annually. The apartment was not rented by the EFCC but one Commodore Umar Mohammed who the DSS described as a questionable business man it once arrested. Mohammed was also said to have lavishly furnished the apartment at the cost of N43 million.

    Other allegations were that he travels in private jets and on first class when on international trip. In one of his journeys, he was said to have travelled with Mohammed and the Managing Director of a bank that is being investigated by the DSS over complicity with funds lodged in the bank by a former minister of petroleum.

    Magu was also profiled as wearing the double personality of a no-nonsense anti-corruption czar who harbours no friends but secretly hobnobs with corrupt people.  The DSS summed its report thus “in the light of the foregoing Magu failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption drive of the present administration”.

    In the case of Lawal, the Senate had in a resolution, asked the President to suspend and prosecute him for alleged breach of the law in handling contracts awarded by the Presidential Initiative for the North East PINE. His company which was registered for IT services was allegedly awarded a N200 million contract to clear invasive plant species in Yobe State but failed to execute it even as it was fully paid for.

    The report further indicated that at the time the contract was awarded, Lawal was still a director of the company. Till date, he is still alleged to be signatory to that company’s account. The Senate held that these contravened the Code of Conduct for public officers and called for his prosecution.

    Magu has remained mute on the allegations since they filtered into public domain. But third parties and masked undertakers have been making spirited efforts to save him from imminent danger into which he is seemingly irretrievably entangled. We have been inundated with veiled image laundering campaigns possibly as damage control to the damning DSS report.

    The public has been treated to the seeming indispensability of Magu in the anti-corruption fight; the wrong signals it will send to the international community should he be relieved of his post now and all that thrash. Suggestions have also been proffered that the allegations may have been orchestrated by fifth columnists or those opposed to Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign to derail its success. For this lobby group, it is yet a case of corruption fighting back.

    We have also heard that the apartment was rented by the Federal Capital Development Authority and Magu never benefitted from the N43 million with which it was furnished. The unidentified sources also said that at no time did Magu travel with the managing director of the said bank. These are all within the realm of speculation since nobody not even Magu, has been identified with the views. So they can be conveniently ignored.

    But their objective is certain: to clear Magu and make him retain his job. If he is innocent of the allegations, he should by all means continue with his job. But that clean bill can only be established after the allegations have been fully investigated. Happily, the President has directed the AGF to do the needful.

    Before then, it bears stating that some of the issues bandied to discredit the report of the DSS are not only very uncharitable but a great disservice to the overall fight against corruption. The impression of indispensability of one man in the fight and without whom the campaign will eventually derail is patently infantile. If the issue is that he is doing a good job, fine. But to extrapolate that without him the anti-corruption war will lose relevance is arrant nonsense.

    Moreover, which one is more dangerous: easing him out if the allegations are proven or retaining him with his moral and integrity baggage because he purports to be performing well? And how credible is such assessment in the face of the heavy indictment by the DSS that he wears double personality in the corruption fight? Those are issues to determine.

    There is also the further ridiculous suggestion that his travails are being orchestrated by those who do not want the anti- corruption campaign to succeed. Are the apologists talking of the Senate or the DSS? For all that one may wish to know, the Senate has no hand in Magu’s current predicament but only responded to an advice by the DSS. This leaves us with the inescapable conclusion that the reference is to the DSS on whose recommendation the Senate acted.

    Incidentally, the DSS is any agency of the federal government domiciled in the presidency. It is unfathomable that the same agency can wake up one day to concoct damning and damaging report against the helmsman of the EFCC or contrive spurious allegations just to derail the anti-corruption campaign. Of course, the credibility of the DSS is at stake in this matter. And what the government makes of the reports, will determine between the DSS and the EFCC leadership which one should be shown the way out.

    Curiously, it is the same agency that was used a couple of weeks back to hound judges for alleged corruption and it was applauded in many quarters because “a desperate situation required a desperate solution”. Why are we in a hurry to impute motives into their judgment in the instant case? Does it have to do with its prospects of exposing the duplicity in the anti-corruption campaign? Or is it being suggested that officials of this government are immune from corruption?

    Lawal has come open describing the conclusions of the Senate as balderdash; an attempt to bring down our best for no just cause. He said he resigned from the company in August 18, 2015 and slammed the Senate committee for not hearing his own side.

    Even with these explanations, he still has issues to explain given that the contract was awarded from his office to a company he has interest in contrary to public service rules. There are also allegations that he is still signatory to the company’s accounts even as the company had in an advertorial shown that his son bears some of his names. These are weighty allegations the SGF will have to contend with. The way they are handled will mirror the direction of the government in this crucial but herculean task.

    Before now, issues have been raised about the selectiveness of the anti-corruption war. The campaign has been criticized for its seeming partisanship since corruption knows neither political party nor ethnic or religious boundaries.

    It is hoped the probe will not take the pattern of the kid glove treatment given to corruption allegations against the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai. Whatever the outcome, the damage has already been done as the two officials contend with credibility deficits.

  • Magu: Buhari orders Malami to submit report through VP

    Magu: Buhari orders Malami to submit report through VP

    •Presidency dismisses reported
    sack of EFCC Chair
    •Senators meet in Dubai over pressure
    on rethink of decision on Magu

    President Muham-madu Buhari has delegated Vice President Yemi Oshinbajo to have an input in the recommendation of Federal Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, on the AGF’s report on the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
    Malami was recently asked by Buhari to query Magu on allegations by the Senate, which stalled his confirmation by the Red Chambers.
    This emerged on a day the presidency denied social media reports that Magu had been dropped by Buhari on account of the Senate’s rejection of his nomination.
    The Nation also gathered that a key member of the president’s kitchen cabinet, Amb. Babagana Kingibe, Pastor Tunde Bakare, a respected governor and some ministers, including Buhari’s strategists, are rallying for Magu’s confirmation.
    The intrigues surrounding the fate of the Acting EFCC chairman are continuing with some Senators relocating to Dubai to consider pressure on them to review their decision on Magu.
    Investigation yesterday showed that while the AGF’s report on Magu was ready, the president insisted on due process.
    It was learnt that the AGF had attempted to submit the report directly but Buhari asked him to route it through the VP.
    It was gathered that the president wanted a second opinion, preferably from the vice president, who is a professor of law.
    A source familiar with the development said: “The president has directed the AGF to send his report or advisory on Magu to the vice president for review.
    “This is the position of things as I speak with you on the status of Magu. I cannot say exactly whether or not the AGF has submitted the report to Osinbajo.
    “This is a matter with many vested interests some of who might have been the brains behind the rumours of sack of Magu. The corrupt elements will never give up with their mischief.”
    Responding yesterday on his Twitter handle to speculation that Magu had been dropped by Buhari, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said there was no such development.
    He said:”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.
    ”The report of his sack is therefore speculative and preemptive”.
    However, sources confirmed that the president on Friday gave the AGF and Magu additional responsibilities in the anti-corruption campaign.
    Another source said: “It is amusing to read about the purported removal of Magu when the AGF and the Acting EFCC chairman worked late on Friday.
    “They were given an urgent assignment by the president and they are both working hard to meet the deadline set for them.”
    Notwithstanding, investigation by our correspondent revealed that the kitchen cabinet of the president is split over Magu.
    While some wanted the Acting EFCC chairman out, Amb. Babagana Kingibe is leading others who prefer the retention and re-nomination of Magu by the President.
    An authoritative source said that a friend of the President, Pastor Tunde Bakare, met with him on the need to “resist forces of darkness” by retaining Magu.
    Others backing Magu are the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption( PACAC), the Senate Leader, Sen. Ali Ndume, a respected governor and some ministers, (including those now called Buhari boys) who do not want their names in print for strategic reasons.
    “The pro-Magu forces, led by Kingibe, are pulling the strings by telling the President that Magu is a symbol of the success which Buhari has achieved on anti-corruption war.
    “They said the alternative is to return the nation to the looting era of the last administration.”
    Asked of the position of the vice president, the source added: “No one can say yet but he is an anti-corruption activist. Go and check his antecedents.”
    Meanwhile, some Senators have held a secret meeting in Dubai to consider pressure on them to have a rethink on their decision on Magu.
    Some of those at the session were said to be “strategic” to decision making in the Senate.
    A Senate source said:”There has been pressure on Senators since a decision was taken not to consider the President’s request on Magu.
    “Some Senators actually held a meeting in Dubai on how to handle the aftermath of the Senate’s decision on Magu, including public opinion and the implications on the unity of the Senate.
    “You know, the Senate is not totally united on Magu’s fate. Ndume and some Senators have a different perspective on how the Senate ruled out the confirmation request on Magu.
    “Some Senators may join issue with Senate leadership on its last decision on Magu. Yet, preserving the unity of the Senate is more paramount than any other thing.
    “Many influential Nigerians have also intervened on behalf of the Acting EFCC chairman. They are asking the Senate to revisit the confirmation whenever the p0resident sends a fresh request. We are all products of different constituencies and districts; we cannot be deaf to all these lobbyists.”
    Meanwhile, Magu, unruffled by reports that he had been fired as acting Chairman of EFCC, yesterday asked those displaced by Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East not to be demoralised by their present predicament.
    They should rather be strong, he said, pledging an end to their travails soon.
    Magu during a visit to two internally displaced persons’ camps in Abuja said: “I am aware that most of you never expected that you will find yourselves in this predicament. There are things we, as human beings, cannot change.
    “But whatever situation we find ourselves, we can make the most of it. That is the reason I am here today to tell you that I feel your pains and to celebrate this special season with you.”
    He urged the IDPs to be disciplined and stay out of crime, assuring them that government was determined to bring an end to their suffering.
    He said with peace gradually returning to the North East, it would not be long before they return to the comfort of their homes.
    The EFCC boss distributed various food items to thousands of IDPs at the Kuchingoro and Area 1 camps in Abuja.

  • Magu not sacked as EFCC chairman – Presidency

    Magu not sacked as EFCC chairman – Presidency

    The Presidency on Saturday dismissed report that Mr. Ibrahim Magu has been sacked as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    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.”

    The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, also dismissed the report as untrue.

    “No truth in the story making the rounds that Magu has been removed as EFCC boss. The AGF is yet to submit his probe report to the President,” he said on his Twitter handle.

    The Senate had earlier this month rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of Magu as EFCC, chairman, saying security reports made him ineligible for the office.

     

  • Still waiting for the ‘Damning Report’ on Magu

    Surely, there has to be a lot more to the Senate refusal to confirm Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) than the contents of what is being circulated in the media as “security report”. In all honesty, it is hard to see the ‘damning’ part of what the public has been fed with so far, or how it even qualifies as a security report in the first place.

    To be sure, Magu’s transgressions include allegations that he lives in a N20 million a year accommodation (or N40 million, whichever figure sounds more sexy) paid for by FCDA (or Magu’s “questionable” businessman friend, whichever version is more fit for purpose); that he once flew in a private jet owned by, and in the company of the same ‘friend’, a retired Air Commodore; that he once flew first class to Saudi Arabia for Umrah; that he was once arrested and detained by his bosses for taking official EFCC files home from the office.

    I have tried to list these allegations in their order of severity. However, it so happens that as you move from one to the next, you are not so sure about which is more flimsy among the charges. There are one or two more details such as the private jet in which he flew (from Maiduguri to Abuja) also had, as one of its passengers, a bank managing director under investigation at the time by EFCC.

    Now, let’s forget the flimsiness of these allegations for a while, or the accuracy of the ‘facts’ for that matter, and look more dispassionately at the case, at least now that the shock value of the report has waned somewhat.

    Starting with the N40 million naira rent, the substance of the SSS allegation appear to hinge initially on the insinuation that Magu’s residential accommodation was paid for by this businessman whose activities the DSS only recently determined to be on the wrong side of the law. However, the evidence has turned out to invalidate the narrative. First, documents that we have seen in the media, including contract details, show clearly that the rent was paid for by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), the government agency that has in the past been responsible for accommodation of political appointees based in the federal capital.

    So what is the source of the misrepresentation? It is not clear at this point whether it was deliberate misinformation by the DSS or the product of spin and propaganda by the hatchet man. But for what purpose really? It is also very questionable why a two-year rent term was first made to look as if it was rent paid for only one year, obviously for exaggerated effect. The padding of evidence can only mean that even the authors of the report are not very convinced about the strength of the initial evidence and its capacity to achieve the intended “damning” purpose.

    The allegation about the private flight from Maiduguri in the company of the same “questionable” businessman was obviously constructed to achieve the same impression as the one about the link with the rented accommodation – guilt by association. Until Magu himself speaks, it is premature to reach any verdict one way or the other about the significance of this plane ride, since the DSS has not told us anything of substance beyond describing the physical encounter between the Acting EFCC Chairman and the owner of the private jet. However, it would be a real tragedy of national proportions if what the DSS does by way of top security intelligence gathering is to try to create a pattern from two disparate events with no connection whatsoever, in order to establish guilt by association.

    The allegation about the first-class trip to Saudi Arabia would appear on the face of it to be more clear cut, considering that it is a more straightforward matter whether the man violated a federal government directive or not. Never mind that it is the most flimsy ground on which to base a ‘security’ report. The matter even becomes more academic if, as we have also read in the media, Magu paid for the ticket with his own money. Why should it matter to us how Magu decides to spend his own money, as long as he is not encroaching on any of our rights or offending our sensibilities? Except you can show that the money was corruptly acquired.

    Now the one about the official files that were found in Magu’s home during Farida Waziri’s time is the most baffling, and raises the biggest question about the real purpose of the DSS secret memo to the Senate. Honestly, the DSS will have to clarify what is the problem with possession of confidential files for which the officer has been granted authorized access. In all the years that I served in the Civil Service, I am shocked to hear that taking files home to treat is one of the cardinal sins of the service. For those of us who did not recognize the distinction between private time and official hours in the amount of time and effort that we devoted to public service, the DSS report is beginning to make me feel like the biggest transgressor of my time.

    Beyond that, the DSS should come clean with the real reasons for why the candidate is unworthy of the position of chairman of EFCC. Because there is nothing to suggest that what we have been fed so far in the media is the product of any rigorous intelligence gathering or that it even qualifies to be described as security report.

    For most Nigerians who have been on the receiving end of the scourge of corruption, the interest is simply in having an anti- corruption agency that is strong enough to confront the monster with all the force that we can muster. True, there is nothing that equates an effective anti-corruption agency only with Magu at the top. But the process of selecting the leadership of that institution should not become an arena for executing an agenda that erodes the credibility of that institution as well as undermines its future effectiveness.

    In giving the DSS the benefit of the doubt, it is probable that they think the EFCC position is too serious and sensitive to allow any detail to go unnoticed. But it is precisely for that reason that Nigerians expect a supposedly serious institution like the DSS to treat the matter with the seriousness that it deserves and not with the underhandedness that they have handled the Magu report. In a proper democracy, issues relating to conflict of interest of public officials are placed in the public domain, not surreptitiously designated as ‘security report’.

    In the off-chance that the DSS has information about Magu that validly disqualifies the man from holding that position, by all means let’s have it. The EFCC and the DSS are both accountable to Nigerians. If they are holding on to a more serious version of this ‘security report’ it should be declassified for the sake of the integrity and credibility of the process – because the current version just doesn’t wash.

    • Joseph writes from Gwarimpa, Abuja.
  • Magu: Politics of vested interests

    Magu: Politics of vested interests

    The controversy surrounding the Senate’s rejection of Ibrahim Magu as substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is still raging like a wild fire in harmattan. Obviously, there are issues of particular interest in the ongoing saga which need to be properly addressed. Issues such as the legal implications of the decision of the Senate and how all parties should move forward in the circumstances are begging for attention.
    The uncertainty of Magu’s present status and the actual effect of the Senate decision as well as how the presidency must move forward, represent the biggest questions in this confirmation conundrum. The earlier some clarity can be reached, the sooner we can turn the page on this episode.
    Perhaps, the most pressing of these issues is the immediate clarification of Magu’s status following the Senate’s decision not to confirm him as substantive EFCC chairman. Although lawyers seem to always be in disagreement over legal issues, it appears that, in this particular instance, the debate is occasioned by a lacuna in the law concerning the position of acting chairman of the EFCC. Some leading lawyers like J.B Daudu, SAN, are of the opinion that Magu’s power to act as chairman of the EFCC under any capacity, was terminated once the Senate rejected his confirmation as substantive chairman. In Daudu’s view, any continued engagement by Magu as acting chairman is an illegality and a new acting chairman ought to have emerged immediately following his rejection.
    Another eminent legal mind, Prof. Itse Sagay who heads President Buhari’s advisory committee on the war against corruption, has given a completely different interpretation. He stated that Magu can serve on as chairman at the President’s pleasure. Some others have said that the President can ignore the Senate altogether and keep Magu as substantive chairman, regardless of their decision.
    The EFCC Establishment Act 2004 expressly provides that the chairman of the EFCC has to be confirmed by the Senate. Section 2 (3) of the Act provides that the ‘’Chairman and members of the Commission other than ex-officio members shall be appointed by the President and (the) appointment shall be subject to the confirmation of the Senate”. There is no mistaking the fact that the Act makes the Senate confirmation a condition precedent to the legal appointment of a chairman of the EFCC. What the Act does not state, however, is the procedure for appointing an acting chairman, or how long a person may continue as an acting chairman before a substantive chairman is appointed or confirmed.
    Unlike the provision of section 231 (5) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) for example, regarding acting Chief Justices of Nigeria and the three-month maximum period a person shall act in that role, there is no such provision in the EFCC Act or anywhere else concerning acting chairmen of the EFCC. As such, appointments or discontinuance of the functions of acting chairmen of the EFCC is exclusively at the President’s discretion as the appointing authority. In this case, the Senate has rejected Magu as substantive chairman, which leaves the commission in need of someone to continue to act until a time when a decision can be made about a substantive chairman.
    As such, if the President wishes to keep Magu on in his acting capacity until there is a resolution or a new appointee, he would be doing so within the law. Section 11 (1) (c) (ii) of the Interpretation Act states that the power of an appointing authority also includes power to appoint a person to act in place of a substantive appointee “…during such time as is considered expedient by the (appointing) authority…”. The issue is quite clear. Until the President says otherwise, it is reasonably deducible that the President’s already appointed acting chairman (Magu) will continue in that capacity.
    The Senate cannot willy-nilly decline to confirm an appointee. It has to give reasons for the decision. We need to examine the reasonability and weight of the reason for the rejection. The Senate based its decision on a report by the Department of State Security, DSS, adjudging Magu as lacking in integrity for the role he was picked for. Truly, the DSS ought to provide security clearance for nominees and appointees for public office by way of reports revealing anything of interest that the Senate ought to know about a nominee or appointee. What the DSS ought not to do is to reach any conclusions or pass any “verdicts” as it appears to have done in this case. It may very well make recommendations, but the conclusions and decisions ought to be left to the Senate. In this case, the Senate’s decision cannot be sustained by the substance, if any, of the report it relied on.
    As if the report of the DSS declaring Magu unfit for the office of EFCC chairman was not fishy enough, it also turned out that there exists an almost identical report by the same DSS addressed to the Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters. The only difference is that the DSS recommendation in that report favoured the confirmation of Magu regardless of its findings due to his excellent performance.
    The Senate was in receipt of the two contradictory DSS reports. How then can the Senate justify its decision one way or the other, in the face of contradictory reports? It does not appear that the Senate ever pressed the DSS for explanations for the contradictory reports as should have been the case. Instead, the senators capitalised and made the decision which may have been most favourable to them and their ways. It has been reported that the Senate’s decision not to confirm Magu was, in fact, because of the contradiction, not despite it. In any case, there is room to make amend.
    Furthermore, one can say Magu has been cleared of the allegations raised in the report, such as the issue of withholding sensitive commission documents back in 2008. He has since received promotions and been reassigned to the commission, demonstrating an acceptance of his explanations at the time. The very act of digging up this old, settled bone, casts doubts on the motive of the DSS and the Senate that based their rejection on the resultant report(s). The allegation in the report of accepting payments for his accommodation from one Commodore Umar Mohammed, who is being investigated, has also been debunked by documentary evidence that shows that the Federal Capital Territory administration was responsible for the payments.
    It is also noteworthy that the same Umar Mohammed was closely associated with the President himself and appointed to some of the President’s committees. Surely, the President too must have integrity issues for having ever associated with the man. This is exactly the reasoning of the DSS in citing Magu’s flying in Umar’s private plane as evidence of an integrity challenge even as investigations of Umar Mohammed are only a recent development.
    All in all, the entire episode smacks of a shoddily put together operation to discredit Magu and get him out of the way. It is left now for the Senate and presidency to step back and approach the issue properly. The starting point should be a formal communication by the Senate to the presidency stating its decision and the reason for it clearly. The existence of the contradictory reports alone gives the presidency a ground to write back, questioning the decision. The Senate and/or the presidency, also needs to task the DSS to explain the contradictory reports, directing that a proper final assessment and report be forwarded, putting in mind, the recent developments and evidence concerning the allegations in the initial report(s).
    Certainly, both the DSS and the Senate must have bungled this confirmation episode. Nothing stops the resubmission of Magu’s name after the present “issues” have been addressed. The people are no longer sitting aloof with the wool over their eyes. We are all watching and keen to see that things are done right and an end is put to the politics of vested interests and personal vendettas.

  • The Magu saga

    The Magu saga

    • Senate should handle it with maturity

    THE Senate is at it again. The upper legislative chamber’s performance in screening Mr. Ibrahim Magu for leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has raised a storm about the senators’ suitability for the critical task assigned them by the 1999 Constitution. Unlike the House of Representatives that shares the task of lawmaking with the Senate at the federal level, screening of top officials of state is exclusively constitutionally assigned the upper chamber on the assumption that the senators are more mature.
    Unfortunately, the Senate has been turned into a tool for negotiating deals with the executive. The earliest indication that the body of senior lawmakers was not inclined to approve Magu’s nomination came from the delay in scheduling his appearance for the usual open session. It was attributed at different times to different reasons. Finally, when it was to be debated on December 15, the process was breached as a rejection story was told by the spokesman for the senators who said it had been advised that Mr. Magu is unsuitable for the job based on a security report by the Department of State Services (DSS).
    In all this, Mr. Magu was sidelined. There is no indication that he was afforded the opportunity to defend the allegation against him before the security agency. Yet, the Senate, too, opted to breach the constitutional imperative of fair hearing as the business of the day was handled in an executive session – behind closed doors.  Democracy is about openness and transparency. If a man had been nominated for such a sensitive assignment since June and the Senate could not take a decision before December, the least expected of a responsible legislative house is to take Nigerians through the process. The decision to vary procedure in the Magu case suggests there may be more to the rejection than the reasons given.
    We find the infamous DSS report curious. As a security outfit, the department is one of those coordinated by the National Security Adviser who reports directly to the President as Commander-in-Chief and Chief Security Officer of the Federation. The apparent decision to handle it all behind President Muhammadu Buhari suggests that all is not well among key players of his administration.
    It is instructive that, in all this, anti-corruption activists and non-governmental bodies have backed the embattled nominee. The one year during which Magu had acted as leader of the body is enough to evaluate his performance. Bodies like Transparency International and Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) have called for confirmation of the anti-graft czar. It is interesting, too, that the Prof. Itse Sagay-led Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption sees nothing wrong in Magu’s actions and believes he has outperformed his predecessors. If the allegations against him were true, he could be guilty of indiscretion as a top police officer, but this is not enough to destabilise the War Against Corruption that is one of the planks of the Buhari administration’s change mantra.
    The rate of prosecution of corrupt officers in recent times is indicative that the future could be brighter.  We call on President Buhari to get more involved in running departments under the presidency and rein in the officials. Intrigues among his men should not get in the way of good governance. It would appear that the Director-General of the DSS chose to hit back at Magu for his comment over the invasion of judges’ residences by men of the department. Throwing Magu away at this point would amount to squandering the goodwill his prosecution of the anti-corruption war has garnered for the Federal Government at home and abroad; and this is one of the few things going for the administration.
    Worse still, it gives the wrong signal to his successors that the country is not ready to fight corruption.

  • Magu: On the way to demystifying President Buhari

    Magu: On the way to demystifying President Buhari

    All he needs do is feed Magu to the hounds baying for his blood for no other reason than his stinging effectiveness at the agency

    About the only thing that can be chalked  up for President Muhammadu Buhari to date, besides his having considerably humbled Boko Haram, is the anti-corruption war on which a huge portion of his integrity , personal and corporate, is built;  despite the considerable number of people stigmatising  it as being  selective . Thanks  largely to Ibrahim Magu, the  EFCC Acting Chairman , who not only exhumed the agency  from its  grave-like ineffectiveness of the Farida Waziri years, but as a  focused, uncompromising and principled crime fighter,  has returned it to the lofty heights Nuhu Ribadu left it,  naming and shaming many of those now  baying for  his blood. But if one may ask, is it the thinking in some high government quarters that the EFCC is a Northern Nigeria colony to be populated, both at the directorate and operational levels, by only northerners? Not only are Ribadu, Waziri, Lamorde and Magu from a single part of the country, all the others now being canvassed to take over if they succeed in seeing Magu’s back – Alli, current Customs boss, Biu, or those who may be roused from slumber in their houses, as alleged by the First Lady in her BBC interview, are all from the north. Without a scintilla of doubt, not many Nigerians are likely to believe that this state of affairs could still be happening almost two years into President Buhari’s administration. It is most unfair that, as I showed in my article: What informed President Buhari’s Security Architecture?, (The Nation on Sunday, ) a  single part of the country has this total dominance of the country’s security  apparatti and the earlier President Buhari effects some drastic changes to reflect balance and equity, the better for his legacy. Incidentally, what we see playing out today in the Magu case is the direct consequence of the insularity of his kitchen cabinet which has resulted in turf wars amongst members angling for power and access. Most of these persons have been with him either directly on the field, or in spirit, since his political odyssey of well over a decade.

    It has been common knowledge for quite a while that two opposing groups within the president’s inner circle are at each other’s throats regarding whether or not Magu should be confirmed as chair of the EFCC. That the president could not even forward his name to senate months after his nomination must have been indicative of which group had the upper hand. This situation subsisted until the president went on leave and the vice president, as acting president, was reported to have transmitted Magu’s name to senate but, unfortunately, without ensuring that the nominee was pre-cleared by the security as should have been the case.  That lacuna is what the Magu enemies, and they are many, are now exploiting, completely unmindful of the ripple effects of their action on a President Buhari whose roaring international reputation rests solely on his anti-corruption standing. Not in recent history have we seen a Nigerian Head of State this respected by President and Secretary of the United States of America as well as Heads of State of many influential European countries.

     That the Senate, in its eagerness to rubbish a sworn enemy would not present to be as democratic as to allow Magu defend himself against whatever the spurious charges against him was not in any way surprising as it shows, in its deafening clarity, the animus some powerful forces in that chamber have always nursed against the no nonsense Magu about who even Ribadu, whose fear used to be the beginning of wisdom for the corrupt, had been very effusive in his praise. What we see in the senate is nothing short of corruption fighting back. In a decent or civilised society, half the number of former governors  in  that chamber would not be anywhere near it since they have corruption charges  hanging on their necks just like its president would be attending his trial at the CCT  as a former senator. Should it therefore lie within such a chamber to be making a pronouncement on a Magu whose head they preferred to shave in his absence? So certain is the Senate today that it is beginning to have the upper hand on the executive that since the president is doing everything to kill off budget padding, they have now proposed a bill, that has since passed the second reading, to appropriate 20 per cent of annual federal budget to constituency projects which they will personally implement so that what they were getting before illegally, they can now take through the front door.  I hope Nigerians now know that there is no political Messiah anywhere in this polity and that they will most probably remain virtual slaves unless they stand up to fight for themselves. It thus seems, essentially, that in Nigeria, the bulk no longer stops on the president’s table. Nauseating! Nigerians would one day have to storm that chamber former President Obasanjo has perspicaciously described as a den of unarmed robbers. It has come to that.

    It is not funny either that the president has chosen to refer this matter to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, for investigation.  In the first place, the AGF’s intervention in the Kogi governorship electoral brouhaha was not particularly ennobling nor is his being a member of the president’s cabinet a matter for cheer. Worse, however, is the fact that it easily reminds one of those occasions when the late President Yar Adua referred matters of this nature to his National Security Adviser, a General Muktar. Not on a single occasion did Nigerians hear a whimper again about such matters. Muktar was the grave yard of any case referred to him for further investigation, a very sore one being the embarrassing manner INEC officials were bribed by the PDP in the 2010 governorship rerun election in Ekiti State. Had he not killed that matter, who knows whether we would have been spared the recent Rivers State electoral debauchery and beheadings. It has also been rumoured that Magu is tenaciously prosecuting some characters who the AGF did not as much as wish to be investigated at all. I doubt if that would make him a honest broker. The president should have handed the investigation over to a retired judge or a respected silk of unimpeachable integrity. It is not too late.

    Magu’s rumoured sins are legion. Amongst these: he is rumoured to have once insisted that the mother of a powerful legislator should personally come to his office to explain how she came about a huge sum of money. And within the president’s kitchen cabinet, the rumour is that he angered the more powerful caucus by hauling before the courts, a supposedly corrupt oil magnate they ordered him not to touch. The man’s offence is believed to include oil liftings not paid for, outright oil thefts and sundry illegal deals with a former oil minister now in total disgrace. It is no surprise too, that a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association has been shouting himself hoarse as to why Magu can no longer be confirmed. Given the EFCC’s shaming and naming of many senior lawyers in both the Malabu and Halliburton cases, I can only pity our man.

    Without a doubt, the war against corruption is President Buhari’s one unarguable success. But the president can very well help obliterate even that one. All he needs do is feed Magu to the hounds baying for his blood for no other reason than his stinging effectiveness at the agency. Once those hounds see Magu out, as is the practice, his enemies will quickly follow up by ousting from the agency, everybody who ever worked with Magu. Consequently, all on-going cases, whether at the stage of investigation or already in court would, ipso facto, be dead; files will develop legs and vamoose and where allowed to remain, at all, vital evidences would vaporise. Then the enemies of President Muhammadu Buhari, both internal and external, would have set in motion, the process of completely demystifying him to clear the way for their own 2019 ambitions.