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By being accused of the same crimes he was saddled with the responsibility of fighting against, Magu has dented, soiled and in the process, ridiculed President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.
There is a proverbial saying that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. This is almost obviously not the case with the embattled and now ousted chairman of Nigeria’s number one anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The term ‘almost’ was used because Ibrahim Magu despite being widely accused of financial misappropriation is yet to be found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
While we wait for the whole process to be initiated and concluded, we cannot but believe that by being accused of the same crimes he was saddled with the responsibility of fighting against, he has dented, soiled and in the process, ridiculed President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war. Buhari campaigned massively on the ground that he was going to fight corruption with everything in his arsenal if he was elected the President in 2015. With so many corruption charges hanging on the necks of many cabinet and non-cabinet members of the administration before Buhari, many Nigerians felt it was time to weed out the people siphoning public funds by voting a man who has promised to sanitize the system against corrupt politicians and technocrats alike.
Despite criticisms, it took Buhari six long months to come up with names of persons to man the ministries, agencies and parastatals under his watch. Amongst them was Ibrahim Magu, the Maiduguri born graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria who graduated in 1986, and has served for years in the Police force, rising to the level of Police Commissioner. He was active alongside his predecessor, Ibrahim Lamorde who was removed by Buhari and replaced by Ibrahim Magu.
The nomination of Magu did not go done well with most members of the 8th Assembly led by the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and who were acting on the report by the Department of Security Services (DSS) not to confirm Magu for having some questionable attitude and not being deserving of such a position. Saraki alongside his team refused to confirm the choice of Magu as EFCC chairman. This generated a lot of controversy and bad blood between the Assembly and the Presidency. It was the beginning of many similar disagreements between the Presidency and the National Assembly.
Some Nigerian saw the refusal to confirm Magu as a move by members of the National Assembly to block the coming of an incorruptible leader of the nation’s anti-graft agency. They were criticised and lampooned for not confirming MAGU’S appointment. The President submitted his name yet again and it was the same story- No to Magu. Buhari stuck to him and left him as the chairman on acting capacity for four years and 8 months.
The quizzing of the former EFCC chairman have not only dented the anti-corruption fight of Buhari but also made the whole process a laughing stock. It has also subtly vindicated the 8th Assembly for seeing what the President failed to see almost five years ago. Equally, the mere fact that Magu retained his position as the Chairman of EFCC in acting capacity since his nomination in November 2015 puts a dent on the image of President Buhari as one who is committed to due process.
Magu has been in detention since his arrest by a joint term of DSS and Police operatives while there have been reports of a police raid of his Abuja home. The media have been awash with speculations of his successor as he cannot maintain his position as the EFCC boss while undergoing probe.
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.