The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Magu

  • Alleged corruption: ‘Senate ‘ll not spare Magu, SGF’

    The Chairman, Senate Commitee on Petroleum (Upstream), Chief Tayo Alasoadura, has said the  National Assembly would not tolerate corrupt government officials. The lawmaker, representing Ondo central senatorial district at the national assembly, insisted on the replacement of the embattled acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, if found guilty of the allegations levelled against him.

    He described some appointees of the federal government as corrupt,stressing the need to relieve them of their jobs. The Senator said, “we are all human beings and the fact that somebody was appointed to a position does not obliterate his past activities over the years. He maintained that some appointees of President Buhari have no business being in the government.

    The lawmaker also pointed out that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has no business in Buhari’s government, stressing that the documents in the custody of the Senate had indicted him of corruption.

    “I want Babachir Lawal to go because the documents show that the man is a corrupt person. There are corrupt elements in APC and that is why we exposed them. The war on corruption cannot be selective. It has to be total. If I am corrupt and I am found to be corrupt, I should be prosecuted.

    “For example, I am a fan of Ibrahim Magu, the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), and when the letter from DSS was read on the floor of the Senate, I was stupefied and there was nothing I could do. We have written a letter to Mr President to probe the allegations against him.

    If Mr President finds out that Magu has corrupt tendencies in him, he should be replaced. If it is because of infighting and bad blood, Mr President should not replace him. The mere fact that I am his supporter does not mean I am going to support him blindly,” Alasoadura said.

  • Youths call for caution over allegations against SGF, Magu

    Youths call for caution over allegations against SGF, Magu

    The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) yesterday urged the  Senate to retrace it steps concerning the call for the sack of the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF)  Babachir David Lawal until thorough investigation is carried out to prove the allegation beyond reasonable doubt.

     A statement jointly signed by the President, Comrade Murtala Mohammed Garba and the Secretary, Comrade Gbenga Adedamola, appealed to the Senate, urging them to revisit their request over the SGF and the Acting Chairman of EFCC since these are just allegation until proven.

     He said both Magu and SGF remained innocent until proven guilty.

     According to the youths, the Senate should support the anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari.

     “Until proven guilty, one still remains innocent and thus the Senate decision to engage in such position on these two persons becomes questionable, hence it requires a retrace and rescinding of their earlier stand until substantiated in a law court certified to be real, then this request will assumed the peoples position.

  • Adegboruwa writes Senate, AGF over Magu’s status

    Lagos lawyer and activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, on Thursday wrote the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mahmud Malami (SAN), seeking clarification on the status of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, Ibrahim Magu.

    In the letter to Saraki, Adegboruwa is demanding official clarification of Senate’s position on Magu’s status.

    He also asked for the record of Senate’s proceeding of December 15 when the upper legislative chamber declined to confirm Magu.

    Adegboruwa asked Malami to confirm Magu’s status at EFCC and the capacity he currently functions.

    Both requests, Adegboruwa said, were in line with Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act, which guarantees the right of any citizen to have access to information from any public official on any matter.

    Adegboruwa said he expects to receive their responses in seven days as stated under section 4 of the FOI Act.

  • Magu, magun and all that magomago

    Magu, magun and all that magomago

    A visit to the barber’s place is always exciting nowadays. The gossip, the jokes, the commentaries- on soccer, politics, medicine, law and, indeed, every subject under the sun, including cosmology – by conceited  experts parading doubtful credentials.

    This scorching afternoon there is an urgent matter of state, as a young fellow with a scary grin put it. The barber, a short man with a sturdy physique undermined by a bulgy tummy, takes his hand off the clippers to listen to the young man.

    “This Magu matter is really getting interesting. Why will senators find him unfit for the EFCC job, which he has done with so much passion, getting more kudos than knocks? They claim to be acting on a security report,” he says in a mournful tone.

    The reaction is electric – sharp and immediate. It is like emptying a bowl of dry maize before chickens. A row breaks out. A crossfire of arguments. A big scramble to be heard. In no time, the ever-busy shop becomes a scene of a hot debate between two sides – one for Magu and the other against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) acting chair.

    An elderly man engrossed in a game of draught suddenly looks up to join the discussion. The fire-fight takes a break. All is quiet. “You see, the Senate’s action should be put in the right perspective,” the man begins in a voice tinged with the magisterial calmness of a judge. All is quiet.

    “You see, these are complex matters. We need to understand the contest and the context of it all. Magu, since he mounted the saddle, has turned himself into a strange kind of magun that has been troubling those who see Nigeria as a mugun who must be exploited to death. That is why you have this elite magomago of rejection and all that drama.”

    “Sir, you have turned it all into some esoteric matter. We are confused. You may wish to come down to our level,” says the young man, his face squeezed betraying his ignorance.

    The old man adjusts his thick, black jacket, his chest displaying what obviously used to be a white t-shirt, which has seen better days. From the inner pocket, he whips out a small bottle of a particular drink, opens the cover and turns the contents into his mouth. The smell of gin fills the air. He shakes his head violently and coughs repeatedly. “Hmmm! Hmmm!!. He clears his throat.

    “Pardon that short distraction. You see, these are also spiritual matters and to deal with them adequately, you must be in the spirit. In Yoruba , there is a juju called magun. Loosely translated, magun is ‘do not climb’. When a man suspects his woman of infidelity, he sets the juju against any man who may attempt to see her in the other room (apology to the eminent originators of that elegant phrase). The strange man falls down, kicking his legs and punching the air in a desperate battle to survive the lethal duel with his invisible opponent. He foams from the mouth. If the woman fails to raise the alarm for elders to rush down there, the man may die.

    “The young man Magu, firm and stubborn, has hit some senators and they are foaming in the mouth like magun victims. Can’t you see the conspiracy, the magomago in the botched exercise? I understand that about 15 per cent of the  senators are being investigated by the EFCC. Why won’t they join any other organisation to stop Magu? You think they are muguns (fools, blockheads)?”

    “You see, when Magu hits you, you confess all; you vomit some of your loot and if you’re the obdurate type, you face the law.”

    “But, sir, could the Senate have ignored those allegations against Magu? The N40m apartment, flying in somebody’s jet and keeping documents at home and others.”

    “Really? (The old man smiles, his face glowing with derision). Forget about all that. Why was he not asked to defend himself? You see, there is what we call the principle of Audi alteram partem, that is to say, ‘let the other side be heard’. Now, Magu knows there is no mugun in the Senate.”

    My business done, I leave the barber shop. What will be Magu’s fate? Will he ever get the opportunity to defend his integrity? Let us agree that the Department of State Services (DSS) is reliable; are its allegations against Magu as solid as its integrity? Will President Muhammadu Buhari seek a second opinion on this matter? Will he stand by Magu? Is Magu getting a taste of his own medicine – as some have suggested?

    There have been many suggestions about the future of the EFCC? Many names have come up on the list of those being touted as likely successors. I do not think that we should see this as a problem at all.

    Why don’t we just draft in a distinguished senator? Such a candidate will not need any screening. He will just be asked to take a bow and go ahead to take his job. That way we would have been saved the horror of celebrating screening a security report that makes no room for its subject to defend himself.

    With a senator in charge at the agency, there will be peace and harmony in the land. Our politicians and their allies in the corporate world will no longer don the garb of anxiety as they go about their legitimate businesses. The wealthy, among who are distinguished senators are privileged to be counted, will be free to spend their hard-earned cash, which those who will never understand how these things work, will continue to refer scornfully to as loot. Did they carry any gun or dynamite to tear down the treasury?

    The Executive will no longer worry about those frivolities that we see as essential elements of governance. Newspapers will no longer report arrests of prominent citizens and salaciously sleazy stories. In other words, there will no longer be media trials of our best, big and bright men, many of whom have been hauled before the courts just because they have had the chance to serve us. We will not have to spend scarce foreign exchange on handcuffs. There will be few litigations and we will not need to explain the difference between prosecution and persecution and stealing and corruption.

    The cash pumped into investigation and awareness campaigns will be saved for other matters of national importance, such as the revival of the cassava bread project that held so much promise until it got to the point of delivery. Even at the Presidential Villa where it made its tasty debut, the loaf has been shoved off the breakfast table.

    Pardon the slight diversion. I return to the matter of the battle for EFCC chair.

    What is more, with a senator in charge, it will be easier for the EFCC Act to be amended so that all those powers can be re-examined to give the organization a human face.

    Those fellows who are impervious to change – and reason –  and for whom obstinacy has become an incurable disease may want to recall that a former senator once spoke of how he surveyed the huge chamber, shook his head and said it was filled up with people he had either arrested or locked up for one crime or the other. So what? That was an old Senate; this is the Eighth Senate.

    Besides, they may claim that corruption is fighting back. How? Isn’t that a cliché? And if it is fighting back, is that not to be expected?  Aren’t some of our compatriots already singing “bring back our corruption”, comparing what they describe as good old days of abundance and these days of recession?”

    If a senator heads the EFCC, he will at least ask the authorities who the landlords of his apartment are, even if the government procured the facility. How much rent was paid? How much did the furnishing, including the door mat, cost? Is it local or imported? Who made the furniture? What of the kitchen utensils? The cutlery? The dishes? Are they imported ? Were they procured, purchased or obtained or bought? Who got the contract? Or was it direct labour? Of what fabric are the window blinds made? Imported ? Local?

    Being conversant with the law and its workings, a distinguished senator will ask all these questions  – and more – so as not to be a liability to the war against corruption when he gets this all-important job.

    Some names have come up as being tipped for the job. Commissioner  of Police Zakari Biu (retd.). Remember Biu – the scourge of many a  journalist and activists, who the late Gen. Sani Abacha (of fearful memory), used to scourge his regime’s opponents, including members of  NADECO? Biu,the one who retired into obscurity after getting  into trouble when Boko Haram kingpin Kabiru Sokoto escaped from custody; remember him? There are also Comptroller-General of Customs Hamid Ali, a retired Colonel, Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) Amodu Ali (retd.) and pioneer EFCC Chair Nuhu Ribadu.

    As if to join the race and prove bookmakers right, just three days after Magu’s rejection by the Senate, a senator stepped up his own self-imposed anti- corruption war. He issued a two-page advertorial in national newspapers, urging the citizenry to support Buhari to win the war.

    And those fellows who will never believe in change, let alone give anybody a chance, began to gossip, grinning from ear to ear and whispering: “Is Buruji Kashamu also among the warriors?”

     

  • Magu, victim of government of Non politicians

    The echo of Buhari’s if ‘we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us’ has continued to resonate. He has however devoted the last 16 months of his administration to a crusade against only those who have explicitly stated ‘stealing government funds is not corruption’, leaving those who are directly responsible for the current depression through their mismanagement of the privatization policy that scuttled the IMF projected seven million jobs, and turned our country to importers of labour of other nations with millions of our own youths thrown into the unemployment market.

    And because the nation has been frightened into frenzy by the level of debauchery exposed on daily basis by government, we have failed to acknowledge that part of our current problem is the preponderance of men of faith rather than politicians in government. The result is a regime that seems to daily find excuses for failure by blaming its predecessors whose forces including those used by Ibori and Saraki to run Ribadu out of town and Magu out of EFCC into detention are still visible in government. Unlike advanced democracies driven by Orwell’s fictional Nineteen Eighty Four, where everyone is a slave to the state, we are piloted by a physically exhausted 74 years old Buhari, a national icon who would rather run the state by prayers than politics. He is ably supported by an equally apolitical but praying Vice President, Pastor Osinbajo. There is also Pastor Babachir, the SGF.  A few others who hold critical position in government are said to fuel intra party crisis in order to present themselves as alternative to physically fatigued Buhari in 2019 in case he chooses not to run. Conspicuously missing in Buhari’s team are the real politicians.

    Raged against President Buhari on the other side are his well known adversaries hooded in APC cloak. They live and thrive through intrigue, serial betrayals and opportunism. They blame Buhari for all the woes of the country including the continued sabotage of the economy by ravaging Niger Delta Avengers they secretly sponsored and equipped. Their open antagonism to Buhari’s war on corruption finally found expression in their refusal to confirm Magu as chairman of EFCC last week.

    The script was modelled after the one used to take over the Senate. Giving themselves enough time to perfect the script, they had held on to President Buhari’s request for five months. Then as if the Senate was doing Nigeria a favour after the long delay, the deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, announced at plenary on Wednesday that the confirmation hearing would hold on Thursday – the following morning.  Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption chairman, Chukwuka Utazi, PDP-Enugu, went on to confirm to Premium Times the hearing would hold as scheduled.  But curiously on Thursday morning, the Senate failed to list the Magu’s confirmation in the Order Paper. Those who understand how the Senate Mafia operates will agree the chamber did not receive the DSS report that was deployed to scuttle Magu’s confirmation only that morning.

    Unfortunately many of us who as columnists try to interpret government action for the benefit of the public have not been of much help to President Buhari. When he postponed quenching of a raging fire in his house until the very morning the election of the Senate leadership was to take place, we attributed his naive ‘I am ready to work with anyone’ as respect for independence of four arms of government. We justified government indolence for spending six months to constitute a cabinet, a task often executed within 24 in other democracies. When reminded that those who did not contribute to his electoral success or understand the policy thrust of APC have hijacked his presidency, we allowed the President to get away with a righteous indignation that he understands politics better than anyone else on account of having contested for the presidency three times. When Pa Bisi Akande first raised alarm about the self-serving group that was set to destabilise the APC they had worked hard to build, we wrongly credited Buhari with Fulani’s famed mastery of power politics.

    Now with an  attempted derailment of Buhari’s war on corruption by the Senate using  Daura’s DSS report and the SGF alleged award of contracts to the company in which he has an interest using the Senate Ad Hoc committee report, the pertinent question is who Daura is working for?  How come Saraki and his ‘Like Mind Senators’ who have demonstrated their opposition to the President’s war on corruption had the DSS report ahead of the executive that controls the awesome apparatus of state power. We can then proceed to ask how come the DSS brief about  Magu’s alleged flight to Maiduguri alongside Mohammed and  Nnamdi Okonkwo of Fidelity Bank who are being investigated by his commission and the alleged award of contract by FCDA to his Africa Energy to lavishly furnish his residence at a cost of N43m was never passed to the President before Magu’s name was forwarded to the Senate for confirmation.

    How come DSS that organized a sting operation at the middle of the night to retrieve alleged proceeds of corruption from residences of some Supreme Court justices was unable to capture an abuse of office by the SGF who has not denied awarding contracts to ‘Rholavision’, a company he claimed to have founded in 1990 but from whose board he claimed to have resigned in 2015. The two tragic events seem to vindicate the claim by many concerned Nigerians including the President’s wife  that some of those currently surrounding  the President are working neither for Buhari nor Nigeria but for themselves.

    And once again, it will appear Buhari and his APC government of men of faith has been outwitted by Saraki and his ‘like mind senators’. The forces that demoted Ribadu, chased him out of the country, and replaced him with a candidate of their own choice; arrested, detained and suspended Magu from the police for several months without salary before he was finally transferred out of EFCC ‘for illegally keeping case files of top politicians being investigated by EFCC in his house’ until he was rehabilitated by President Jonathan are still very influential in Buhari’s government of change.

    The immediate target and victim is Magu, regarded by his peers as ‘an incorruptible and courageous officer’, who as head of the sensitive unit charged with the investigation of senior public officers, investigated the role of  Bukola Saraki in the collapse of  Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria as well as James Ibori, former Governor of Delta  currently serving jail term in London  in addition to recording in one year, more high profile convictions than all his   predecessors put together.  The ultimate target however is Buhari’s war on corruption which they intend to discredit

  • Magu and the DSS papers

    Since coming to office about eight months ago as the anti-graft czar, Ibrahim Mustafa Magu has  been discharging his duty with single-minded purpose. All he is interested in is bringing to book those who used public office to enrich themselves. This cannot be a mean task, especially in a society like ours, where public officers, no matter their category, are untouchable. So, Magu is treading where even angels fear to walk by taking on these people. By so doing, he is only doing his job. But many, especially those affected and their friends, do not see it that way. They have taken it personal.

    What they do not know is that if they did not do anything wrong, Magu would not have come after them. As head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), it is Magu’s duty to investigate pilferers of public funds. These are funds meant for national development and the provision of infrastructure. We complain of dearth of infrastructure today because these funds were not well managed. Rather than being used for the common good, they were siphoned by incorrigible public officers.

    The stealing of public funds did not start today. It is an age-long problem, which is as old as Nigeria itself. Every public officer believes that public office is an opportunity for him or her to become rich. This is why many who get into office without a kobo to their names leave office stinking rich. Where did they get the money from? This is the question Magu is paid to ask and he has been asking that question without looking at faces in the past one year. Unfortunately, this has earned him many enemies. Virtually all the public officers being probed or tried today do not like Magu’s face. They will stop at nothing to do him in, if they have the slightest opportunity.

    Magu has become an endangered specie just for doing his job. What these people want is an ally, who will join them in the looting of the country. Since Magu is not ready to play ball, they believe that the next thing is to ensure that he is not confirmed as EFCC chairman. If he were to be pliable, they would have been clamouring for his confirmation through some faceless groups. Never in the history of this republic has the confirmation of the head of an agency being so  delayed as that of Magu, who was appointed on November 9, last year, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Despite holding office in acting capacity, Magu has not allowed that to affect his job, which he has been doing conscientiously and to the discomfort of those who believe that they should have unhindered access to the treasury. He has become their enemy because he denied them such access. Magu, like everyone of us, is not perfect, but there is no denying the fact that he does his job with near perfection. He is diligent and committed – two key attributes – required for the enormous task of cleansing the Augean stable, which our nation has been turned into by unscrupulous public officers.

    Magu’s screening by the Senate is generating heat because of the kind of person he is – a no nonsense and uncompromising anti-graft czar. Were he to be otherwise, we will not hear all this noise about whether or not to confirm him. The Senate would have since asked him to ‘’bow and go’’. But because he is Magu, he is being subjected to all sorts of chicanery so that the president will withdraw his nomination. The Presidency also has its own share of the blame in all this. It is trite that the Presidency does not send a nominee for public office to the Senate for clearance without first knowing his security status. Why was this not done in Magu’s case?

    By not getting a security report on Magu before sending his name for screening and confirmation, the president unwittingly left him in the hands of hawks in the Senate and his administration. The president should not deceive himself that he and all members of his administration are on the same page in the anti-corruption crusade. No sir, there are many in your administration that do not share your sentiments about corruption. These people still believe in the old order of doing things – awarding contracts and collecting 50 percent and abandoning public infrastructure to decay. The Presidency made a huge mistake by not securing Magu’s security clearance before sending him for confirmation. It took a big risk by leaving this important task to the Senate, which could have exploited it to make Magu a turncoat.

    As things are now, the Department of State Service (DSS) may have given the Senate ammunition to deal with Magu, who does not enjoy cordial relations with many of the senators, who are either being probed or tried for one offence or the other. The DSS’ job is to screen some of the president’s appointees once their names are sent to it. After the exercise, it is expected to send its report to the president, who will on the strength of that report, decide whether or not to send the nominee’s name to the Senate. Magu was appointed in acting capacity after Ibrahim Lamorde’s exit. So, there was no need for his security screening before taking up the job. But what happened when the president decided to retain him for the job? Was he screened by DSS? What was the outcome of the screening?

    f he was found wanting by the  screening panel, was the presi    dent  so advised? Is it appropriate for the Senate to ask the DSS to screen a presidential appointee and use the outcome to determine the appointee’s fate without recourse to the appointing authority? And what is all this about the DSS writing two reports on Magu – one clearing him and the other rejecting his nomination? Which of these reports do we believe? The one saying that Magu is not fit for appointment or the other giving him ‘benefit of the doubt’ and asking the president to appoint him if he so wishes? There is confusion over this matter and it is only the DSS that can clear the fog.

    Let the DSS tell the nation if Magu is fit for appointment or not and state its reasons for whatever position it takes. For now, in this Magu case, it has not discharged itself well. It has only helped the Senate to arrive at an answer, which it has long wished for in order to paint Magu as unfit for the EFCC job.

     

    Wike’s faux pas

    By now, Nigerians know Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike for who he is. He is brash and rash and can do anything to get what he wants. The governor seems to enjoy swimming in troubled waters. To him, the end justifies the means.

    Wike is having a ball as governor and his desire is to rubbish his predecessor’s achievements. Whatever politics he likes, he can play with former Governor Rotimi Amaechi. After all, they were bosom friends before things went awry between them. But whatever he does, he should not drag Rivers down the drain. If he truly loves the state, he should be more interested in leaving it better than he met it and not take it down the religious ravine.

    Like every other state, Rivers has its own share of Muslims and Christians. But, last Friday at the Second Christmas Carol of the state, Wike was overwhelmed by the occasion when he was called to speak after the ministration of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye. After greeting the eminent preacher,

    Wike said when he became governor last year, he thought it appropriate to introduce the yearly Christmas carol celebration because “this is a Christian state and I do not have any apologies for saying so”. But, the last time I checked, the Constitution in Section 10 states: “The government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion”.

    I don’t think this has changed. When last did His Excellency read his Constitution?

  • Magu remains rejected, says Senate

    Magu remains rejected, says Senate

    The Senate yesterday said its rejection of Mr. Ibrahim Magu’s nomination as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was sacrosanct.
    The upper chamber also said the indictment of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal by the Senate in plenary followed the consideration of the report of the findings of its ad-hoc committee on humanitarian crisis in the Northeast.
    Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs Chairman Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said at a news conference in Abuja that the clarification became necessary following the statement made on Monday by Senate Leader Mohammed Ali Ndume said on Monday that the Senate did not reject Magu’s nomination.
    Sen. Abdullahi noted that the upper chamber did not only reject Magu’s nomination but had returned same to President Muhammadu Buhari for further action.
    Abdullahi reiterated that the decision of the Senate to reject the nomination was informed by unfavourable security report.
    The Niger North Senatorial District lawmaker, who said that the Senate was not aware of two security reports on Magu, insisted that all letters meant for Senate’s consideration were normally addressed to the Senate President or the Clerk to the Senate who will pass them over to the Senate President.
    Abdullahi added that the Votes and Proceedings of the Senate on Magu’s nomination and rejection were unambiguous.
    He said it was wrong for Ndume to mislead the public by painting a picture of what never happened  on the floor of the Senate.
    Ndume told reporters after a meeting with President Buhari that the Senate did not reject Magu’s nomination.
    Abdullahi however said Ndume’s statement misrepresented what transpired in the Senate.
    Abdullahi said: “The call to national duty is crucial. So, I am here based on series of calls and text messages from you about what you thought are conflicting messages. It has become critical for the Senate to clarify issues. The 8th Senate believes in its integrity.
    “We uphold and promote the rule of law, which is the basic thing about our democracy. We are committed to doing things differently to stabilise the polity in the collective interest of Nigerians.
    “I would like to make the following clarifications:
    “I’m holding the votes and proceeding of Thursday. We had two votes and proceeding because we had to go into joint session to receive President Buhari.
    “Our votes and proceedings are the official records of what transpired in chamber. I briefed you on Thursday to the effect that the Senate is announcing that in view of security reports we were unable to confirm Magu.
    “We then rejected and returned the nomination to President Buhari for further action.
    “Media reports emerging, especially from interviews granted by Sen. Ndume, meant we have to clarify issues.
    “For the records, I am the official spokesman of the Senate and I intend to discharge this with honour and integrity because the sanctity of the institution is crucial to the sustenance of democracy.
    “To clarify, I have only one point of reference, which is, the votes and proceedings.
    “This is the only official position of the Senate. What I say, I say to on behalf of the Senate. Nigerians should be guided. There is no ambiguity in what we said.
    “Senate is an institution and we are working with the Constitution and whatever rules we use, our powers are drawn from the constitution.
    “We also want the media to be guided in the matter because of some misleading news in the public domain.
    “Even with respect to SGF, you as journalists can do your proper investigation. The genesis was the motion raised by Senator Kaka (Garbai) and Ndume and Senate decided to take a look at the abuses and SGF was found to be part of the abuses.
    “Allegations of two separate  reports:
    “Truth is sacrosanct. For every line of command, there is a line of communication. For the records, the leader that I know is Saraki and administrative leader is the Clerk to the Senate.
    “ As a routine, when you have  a nominee, security report should be given.
    “The report we are talking about was sent to the Acting Clerk of the Senate. If you talk about two reports which one is the second one?
    “I heard a report was sent to Ita Enag but I am not holding brief for him. He is a liaison officer and if there is any communication, Saraki or clerk are (sic) in charge.
    “It will be unfortunate for anyone to say that Senate will be subjected to a report sent to the liaison office.
    “This does not undermine his office; he is one of the highest ranking officers. Let us not bring Ita Enang to a cross fire.
    “It is the prerogative of the Senate and they have exercised that prerogative.
    “We are all guided by processes. If President  Buhari is going to resubmit the communication for re-nomination, he must come with the necessary reports, either negative or positive.
    “The report was signed. The Senate can’t just get a document from anywhere and work with it.
    “Even petitions are signed, let alone a serious matter like this.
    “The Senate leader is the Senate Leader, but I am the spokesman. He can’t do my job and I can’t do his job. He is my leader but we have different responsibilities.
    “Occasioned by what he said, if people are making meaning from what he said, I am here to clarify.
    “Nigerians are looking forward to all of us to take them out of recession.
    “The media should also be guided to create environment for leadership to avoid tension.”

  • ‘Corrupt politicians peddling lies against Magu’

    ‘Corrupt politicians peddling lies against Magu’

    The Movement for Popular Democracy (MPD) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to re-nominate the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, for confirmation as chairman by the Senate.
    MPD’s Executive Director Theo Nwaigbo described as ‘bogus lies’, information making the rounds on social media accusing Magu of impropriety.
    Nwaigbo stated this in Lagos yesterday while reacting to the refusal of the Senate to screen Magu for confirmation because of an alleged security report against him from the Directorate of State Services (DSS).
    “It is a shame that desperate corrupt politicians could resort to peddling wicked lies against such a decent officer.
    “I have known Magu for over 20 years. He has handled petitions from our chambers, right from when he was in Special Fraud Unit (SFU). He never asked nor received money, even as a thank you gesture, after completing his assignment.
    “He does not smoke cigarattes, not to mention Indian hemp or cocaine. Those are lies from the pit of hell. It is really a shame,” Nwaigbo said.
    According to him, Magu’s only ‘sin’ is his uncompromising stance on corruption.
    “I know this fellow, if he were not a policeman, he would have been a priest. He is decent and disciplined.
    “The problem they have with him is that he cannot compromise on crime.
    “That is the heart of the matter. And you know we have a lot of crooks in high places in this country”, he said.
    Nwaigbo urged President Buhari not to succumb to the ‘cheap blackmail’.
    “Mr. President should repackage Magu and send him back to the Senate for confirmation. He should not allow this pure vendetta to derail the anti-corruption war,” Nwaigbo added.
    According to him, the EFCC detention facilities are second to none in the country and of international standard.
    “I was privileged to accompany the Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof Bem Angwe, to EFCC’s cells and we were amazed at the quality of the facilities.

  • Rejection of Magu’s nomination stands – Senate

    Rejection of Magu’s nomination stands – Senate

    The Senate on Tuesday said its rejection of Mr. Ibrahim Magu’s nomination as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was sacrosanct.

    The upper chamber also said the indictment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Engr. David Babachir Lawal, by the Senate in plenary followed consideration of the report of its ad-hoc committee on humanitarian crisis in the North East.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, who spoke at a media briefing in Abuja, said the clarification became necessary following the statement by Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, on Monday that the Senate did not reject the nomination of Magu as EFCC boss.

    The spokesman noted that the upper chamber did not only reject Magu’s nomination but has since returned same to President Muhammadu Buhari for further action.

    Abdullahi reiterated that the decision of the Senate to reject the nomination was informed by unfavourable security report by the Department of State Service (DSS)

    The lawmaker, who said  the Senate was not aware of two security reports on Magu, insisted that all letters meant for Senate consideration are normally addressed to the Senate President through the Clerk to the Senate who will pass such over to the Senate President for necessary action.

  • DSS to Senate in another report: give Magu chance

    DSS to Senate in another report: give Magu chance

    Report praises EFCC chief

    Senators rise against Ndume

    Donors anxious

    Another security report cleared Ibrahim Magu for confirmation as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, it was learnt yesterday.
    The Department of State Services (DSS) sent two reports to the Senate, which did not screen Magu but “rejected” his nomination.
    The DSS letter clearing Magu for consideration, dated October 3, 2016, was sent to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang.
    Although the letter accused  Magu of some infractions, it said  the Senate could give Magu the benefit of the doubt.
    The Nation stumbled on the letter, which reads: “Following the receipt if the aforementioned request, subject was thoroughly screened.
    ”Investigation revealed that Magu is currently occupying a residence rented for N40m at N20m per annum. This accommodation was not paid from the commission’s finances but by one Air Commodore (name withheld), a questionable businessman and an ally of the subject who has subsequently been arrested by the service.”
    The DSS, in the letter, also said its investigation revealed  that Magu “parades a twin personality as an anti-corruption Czar and an ally of a corrupt man.”
    But the letter recommended that Magu be considered for the office.
    It added: “In the light of the ongoing, Magu’s integrity may be in doubt. Nonetheless, in view of his-achievements since assumption of office in acting capacity, it may be expedient to give him benefit of doubt and be considered.”
    The two letters were sent to the Senate on the same date through the Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori and Enang.
    “We sensed that something was wrong because such letters ought to be addressed to the President of the Senate. It was also strange that the letters came to the Senate through two channels. This is not our procedure.”
    The two letters have sparked a big row in the Senate, with some senators collecting signatures to remove Senate Leader Ali Ndume.
    A source said: “There is a cold war in the Senate because some Senators were not aware of the letter which recommended Magu’s consideration.
    “The aggrieved senators also suspected some hidden agenda because only the letter which indicted Magu as unfit for the office was released to the public.
    “Some anti-Magu senators were said to be unhappy with Ndume’s support for Magu which they consider not in tandem with the position of the Senate rejecting his nomination.
    “A crisis of confidence  has erupted and the anti-Magu senators last night were compiling the ‘sins’ of Ndume in order to pass a vote of no confidence on him by collecting impeachment signatures.
    “But those sympathetic to Ndume said it will be impossible to remove the Senate Leader because he enjoys tremendous goodwill in the Senate.”
    A Senator said: “What else do they want Ndume to do? He is a Senator from Borno State and the man we are talking about is also from the state. He cannot fold his arms.
    “Some Senators don’t even know that Ndume is just being patriotic. Magu is from the majority Kanuri ethnic group. Ndume is from a minority ethnic group in the state.
    “If Ndume wants to be selfish, he would just distance himself from the travails of anyone from the majority ethnic group.”
    Presidential Assistant Enang said last night he would not want to be drawn into the issue.
    He told our correspondent on the telephone: “I don’t want to descend into the arena because whatever I say will deepen the controversy.
    “My job is that of a liaison officer and I want to stick to that role.”
    Disturbed by the intrigues over Magu’s fate, some donor agencies, anti-graft war partners and foreign missions are anxious over the anti-graft war’s future.
    Most of the donor agencies, partners and foreign missions are said to favour Magu’s retention.
    The intrigues have heightened in the Presidency.
    Although those  against Magu are said to be losing out in the last 48 hours, they have not given up.
    Most of the donor agencies, partners and foreign missions are disturbed about the scandal woven around Magu, whose rejection without “fair hearing”  was also rated by some of them as “political.”
    A government  source said: “The Presidency will resolve this challenge at hand in EFCC soon.”
    A source said: “The AGF is already working on the Senate Committee’s report and DSS reports on Magu. His advisory might guide the government accordingly.”
    Some of the donor agencies and partners that have collaborated with the EFCC include United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),  US Justice Department, the DFID, FBI,  the National Crime Agency( NCA), the Metropolitan Police, the  Interpol, City of London police, Serious Organized Crime Agency(SOCA), UK-sponsored Justice 4 All (J4ALL) , the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Western Australia Police and some foreign missions.
    The UNODC project led to the treatment of more than 5000 petitions,  400 convictions and the recovery of about $6.5billion proceeds of crimes.
    A diplomatic source, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, said: “We are all worried that each time your country takes a step forward to fight corruption, you end up going 10 steps backward. Your anti-corruption war is laced with bitter politics.
    “Most of us have opened desks to monitor what will become of the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu whom we have all worked with.
    “We, however, recognise that it is purely your internal affair which we cannot dabble in.
    “Some of us have sought clarifications from some people in government and the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC).
    “ All we need is a fair and just process on all issues affecting the war against corruption in your country. But the way things are going, it is a bit unclear.”
    Another source from a foreign mission said: “We have worked closely with Magu and naturally, we have some anxiety on what next.
    “Some donor agencies and missions have invested a lot in assisting anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria, especially EFCC,  but there is always instability.
    “For instance, in the last 12 years, you have had four people managing the EFCC. We are all watching events before drawing our conclusions.
    “All I know is that the attitude of Nigeria towards tackling corruption might define its relationship with some countries.”
    A source in PACAC said: “We have been receiving enquiries from some foreign missions and international agencies.”
    Some of the assistance to EFCC are as follows:
    *The US Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) donation of  a forensic work station, titled F.R.E.D (Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device).
    * The payment of forensic accountant that assisted the EFCC to uncover those accused in the fuel subsidy fraud.
    *Joint tactical and operational activities like collaboration with the Interpol, City of London police, Serious Organised Crime Agency(SOCA).
    * NCA collaboration with EFCC to probe the oil sector during the tenure of a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison- Madueke.
    *Ongoing MoU between EFCC and Western Australia Police to combat internet fraud and money laundering.