Twice rejected: The travail of an anti-corruption czar

When the scuffle between the Presidency and the Senate first started sometime in January this year over Ibrahim Magu’s confirmation as substantive chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), some Nigerians were of the view that President Muhammadu Buhari may have lost executive powers to the Department of State Security (DSS).
President Buhari had eight months ago written to the Senate seeking approval of Magu’s appointment as the substantive chairman of EFCC. Magu has been in the position in acting capacity since November 11, 2015 following the expiration of the tenure of Ibrahim Lamorde. But the Senate had rejected Magu, citing “security report” by the DSS, which revealed that Magu lives in a property allegedly bought for him by a corrupt businessman.
President Buhari, who returned to the country recently after about 50 days of medical leave in London, wrote another letter to the Senate in mid-January asking it to confirm Magu. The President in the letter cleared Magu of any wrongdoing, basing his stand on the report by Attorney General of the Federation.
But in another dramatic move just last Wednesday, the Senate again roundly rejected Magu who had appeared before it for his confirmation hearing during which Dino Melaye (Kogi West) raised the issue of the DSS report dated March 14.
Reading from the report, Melaye said in light of its content, “Magu has failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption stand of the current government”.
But Magu in his defence told the lawmakers that the DSS never invited him to defend himself based on the allegations levelled against him. He said his official residence at Maitama, Abuja was rented for him by the FCT authorities for ease of his work, following intervention of an undisclosed senior official in the Presidency.
Senate President Bukola Saraki then put Magu’s confirmation to a voice vote and majority of the lawmakers said ‘Nay’ to his confirmation and the Senate therefore rejected it. Saraki then said it would be inappropriate for Magu to continue in acting capacity and advised the Presidency to seek for his replacement.
Magu’s nomination as the substantive chairman of EFCC is in line with Section 2(1) (a) of the EFCC Act which states that “The commission shall consist of the following members – (a) a chairman who shall (i) be the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of the commission; (ii) be a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent; and (iii) possess not less than 15 years cognate experience.”
Debo Adeniran, executive chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), told BDSUNDAY that it was rather unfortunate that Magu, who has performed so marvellously well within the very short period he has been acting, had to be given this ‘Ides of March’ treatment by a pack of people who are apparently incurably corrupt.
“It is a tragedy that these elements have been able to use the country’s hallowed chambers to frustrate the appointment of a man who has recorded more landmark achievements in the anti-corruption drive than even his predecessors. They have just practically used the legislative arm and its sanctity in the bid to shield themselves from judicial consequences of their corrupt ways,” he said.
“When the dilly-dallying and acrobatics over Magu’s confirmation began, we had said the Senate would brazenly utilize different crooked means of causing confusion to achieve the bid to shield themselves from scrutiny because some of them are lords of corruption. Majority of the senators lack more in integrity than the man they are persecuting today over their perverted kind of integrity,” he added.
In August 2008, Magu was accused of illegally keeping case files of top politicians being investigated by the commission. His house in Abuja was searched and his property allegedly carted away by operatives of the EFCC.
He was subsequently redeployed to the police after days of detention with nothing incriminating found against him, but was later suspended from the police and had to go without salaries for several months.
Following his appointment as chairman of the EFCC in 2011, Ibrahim Lamorde made the return of Magu to the EFCC a top priority. Both men had worked together at the commission when Lamorde served as head of operations of the agency.
In a letter written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on March 19, 2012 and titled “Re: Postings/Transfer and Secondments of Police Officers to the EFCC”, Lamorde put Magu as top on the list of police officers he wanted to be deployed to the EFCC.
But when the police boss was to confirm the deployment of the officers, Magu’s name was conspicuously absent.
Following ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s intervention, however, Magu was released to the EFCC and remained a top official of the commission until he was appointed to succeed Lamorde.
Magu officially took over as acting chairman of the commission on November 11, 2015 and during the handing-over ceremony at the commission’s office in Abuja, he called on all staff of EFCC to get positioned for a greater fight against corruption in Nigeria.
Magu’s profile
Ibrahim Magu, a Kanuri from Borno State, North-East Nigeria, attended the University of Maiduguri where he obtained a degree in Accountancy. He is a trained financial crimes investigator with background in forensic accounting, and was also trained at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) institute, US, and the London Metropolitan Police Institute, UK.
Magu served as head of the EFCC’s Economic Governance Unit (EGU) during the tenure of Nuhu Ribadu, pioneer chairman of the commission. He thereafter gained public attention when he led many high profile investigations against former governors including James Ibori of Delta State, who was convicted for money laundering in the UK, and Bukola Saraki as Kwara State governor in the case of the collapse of Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria.
Magu was one of the early recruits into the EFCC by Nuhu Ribadu. He is seen by peers as an incorruptible and courageous officer, which was why he was made the head of theEGU of the anti-graft agency. The EGU unit is in charge of investigations of senior public officials.
He also reportedly worked with Ribadu to jail his brother-in-law Shettima Bulama, who was a former Bank of the North chief. Bulama was later pardoned by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Magu is a member of the investigative committee convened by Babagana Monguno, incumbent National Security Adviser (NSA), on the orders of President Buhari to probe the procurement of arms in the Armed Forces from 2007 till date.
Magu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, is also a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption.