Corruption is said to have eaten deep into Nigeria’s fabric and the several attempts to fight corruption have always been confronted with stiff resistance. The suspension of President Muhammdu Buhari’s face of the anti-corruption crusade, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, and his ‘Villa arrest,’ are pointers to this administration’s anti-corruption crusade. ABDULRAHMAN ZAKARIYAU and SAMSON BENJAMIN write on the rise and fall of the anti-corruption Czar.
Magu’s emergence
Before his appointment as the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 9, 2015, Magu and his predecessor, Ibrahim Lamorde, served during Nuhu Ribadu’s time at the anti-graft agency and were also credited with part of the successes Ribadu recorded in his time.
Rejections
Surprisingly, the 8th Senate led by Bukola Saraki refused to confirm Magu as the substantive EFCC chair based on a report from the Directorate of State Services (DSS) which accused Magu of fraudulent activities.
The former director-general of the DSS, Lawal Daura, in a letter in March 2017 accused Magu of corrupt practices. According to the letter, “Magu has failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption drive of the present administration.”
Twice he was nominated, December 2016 and January 2017, and twice he was rejected in December 2016 and March 2017.
Speaking on why it rejected Magu, the spokesperson of the 8th Senate, Aliyu Abdullahi, said, “The Senate wishes to inform the public that based on available security report, the Senate cannot proceed with the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The nomination of Ibrahim Magu is hereby rejected and has been returned to the President for further action.”
Bent on keeping Magu as the EFCC chair, President Buhari insisted that he “has every confidence in Magu and every confidence in the Commission and the work that Magu has been doing, and as long as I’m president Magu remains the chairman of the EFCC.”
Reconfirming the president’s confidence in Magu, the vice-president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said, “I’m fully in support of Magu as the EFCC chairman, just as the president is. It is up to the Senate to make their judgement.”
Consequently, Magu remained in office from 2015 to 2020 in acting capacity. He is the only officer who has led EFCC for five years in an acting capacity since 2003, when the anti-corruption agency was established.
Presidency’s backing
In a chat with Blueprint Weekend, the convener, Take Back Nigeria Movement and co-convener, Say No Campaign, Mr. Jaiye Gaskia, said the decision to leave Magu in acting capacity despite being rejected twice by the Senate emboldened him to act with impunity.
He said, “The crisis is a reflection of the lack of cohesion within the government, and it is a making of the regime. It is the regime, which contrary to the expectations of the EFCC Act and the constitution, allowed Magu to run the agency with the full powers of a substantive chief executive, in an acting position for more than five years.
“It was certainly not the intention of the law to have the agency run by a chief executive without legislative confirmation for such an extended period of time. Not even a Chief Justice of the Federation, not President of the Court of Appeal could have been in office for such an extended period and in an acting position, without legislative confirmation.
“It is this anomaly that is at the root of the inclination of Magu to so frequently act with impunity. Finally, a determination to stamp out corruption requires a systemic and institutional approach, not an approach hinged on the body language of the president, or the normative character of the EFCC chair.”
He said further: “Where is the integrated and digital registry of recovered assets – whether in properties or in cash? Who is in the know of the actual records of recovered assets? Is this readily available and accessible to the population? What is being done to prevent corruption? And not just to investigate and prosecute those indicted of corruption? What’s happening to the audit system and process? The audit system requires a robust autonomous institutional framework. All of these aforementioned processes require establishment of a systemic and institutional approach to fighting corruption.
“In addition to the Magu saga, the fact that the Audit Commission Bill, and the whistleblowers and witness protections bill have not been passed, and have not become law are the clearest indications of the failure of the anti-corruption war of this regime.”
Malami’s petition
Malami, a few weeks ago in a letter that was leaked to the media, recommended that President Buhari should sack Magu. Statutorily, Magu’s EFCC is under Malami’s purview as the Minister of Justice. However, according to sources, the battle for supremacy of who controls alleged loots and recovered assets was at the heart of a prolonged cold war that ensued between Malami and Magu for five years.
Fascinatingly, some of the allegations in Malami’s petition which President Buhari handed to the Justice Isa Ayo Salami-led the panel to investigate were; alleged discrepancies in the reconciliation records of the EFCC and the Federal Ministry of Finance on recovered funds. Declaration of N539 billion as recovered funds instead of N504 billion earlier claimed, and insubordinations to the office of the AGF by not seeking his approvals on some decisions.
Others were: Not providing enough evidence for the extradition of the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke; alleged late action on the investigation of Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) leading to a legal dispute; not respecting court order to unfreeze a N7 billion judgement in favour of a former executive director of First Bank; alleged delay in acting on two vessels seized by Nigerian Navy leading to the loss of crude; alleged favouring of some investigators called Magu Boys; reporting some judges to their presiding officers without deferring to the AGF, and alleged sales of seized assets to cronies, associates and friends.
Magu’s travails
On July 6, 2020, media reports indicated that Magu had been arrested by men of the DSS, but this was refuted by the agency, which said that its agents did not arrest him. In a statement, the DSS Public Relations Officer, Peter Afunanya, said, “The Department of State Services, DSS, wishes to inform the public that it did not arrest Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as has been reported by sections of the media.”
Similarly, the EFCC spokesman denied that Magu was arrested or forced to go to the Presidential Villa to face a panel. He said, “He was served the invitation to the panel, while on his way to the Force Headquarters, Abuja, for a meeting. The EFCC boss was neither arrested nor forced to honour the invitation. A member of a legal team from the EFCC is also with him on the panel.”
However, 24 hours later, it became public knowledge that Magu was taken to the Conference Centre of the Presidential Villa (Old Banquet Hall) where he was grilled for hours by a Presidential panel led by Ayo Salami, former president of the Appeal Court, set up to investigate alleged infractions against him.
On July 7, Magu’s suspension was reported and on July 11, President Buhari in a statement by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, explained why he approved the suspension of Magu from office.
He said, “A series of documented allegations were made against the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Following a preliminary review of the allegations levelled against the Acting Chairman and several other members of his staff, there were grounds for a detailed investigation to be conducted.
“Hence, an investigative panel was constituted in compliance with the extant laws governing the convening of such a body. As is the proper procedure, when allegations are made against the chief executive of an institution, and in this case an institution that ought to be seen as beyond reproach, the chief executive has to step down from his post and allow for a transparent and unhindered investigation.”
All efforts by Magu’s legal team to secure his released were rejected as he was brought before the panel for questioning. After 14 days, July 6 to 15, Magu was released.
Magu’s denials
However, Magu has formally written to the Ayo Salami-led presidential panel denying media reports linking him to the alleged corrupt acts.
In a letter addressed to Ayo Salami, chairman of the Presidential Investigation Committee on Alleged Mismanagement of the EFCC Federal Government Recovered Assets and Finances from May 2015 to May 2020, Wahab Shittu, lead counsel to Magu, raised concerns over what the legal team called “serial falsehood publications in the media” over the multiple allegations in respect of matters which never featured in the proceedings of the panel.
Debunking the claim, the counsel said, “Our client states categorically that he has not been confronted on alleged illegal transactions and no such report was tendered by NFIU in any proceedings before this panel involving him till date.
“Our client states categorically that the maximum forex transaction he has been involved in is the sum of $10,000 (Ten Thousand Dollars) till date. Our client also wishes to place on record that he has no link with Kaduna-based Bureau De Change Operator as erroneously reported in the publication.”
He said further, “It is instructive to state that the General Overseer of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministries, Prophet Emmanuel Omale, in a pre-litigation letter addressed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Monday, July 13, 2020, denied the allegations that he bought a property in Dubai worth N573 million on behalf of our client. Our client challenges his accusers to provide details of such property and proof of ownership by our client.”
Who’s above investigation?
Gaskia told Blueprint Weekend that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with probing Magu. No one, not even an anti-corruption Czar, should be above the law. He said, “It is important to also insist on due process, and fairness, even if it is true that Magu himself did not respect due process. But two wrongs cannot make a right.
“The current probe, under the presidential panel is welcomed, even if it is long overdue. Let us recall that there are two pending reports that had indicted Magu, before this current probe, by two different institutions of the same government, the recommendations of neither of which had hitherto been taken on by government.
“The allegations against Magu are serious, and if proved, are symptomatic and emblematic of a systemic crisis and institutional decay, and calls for a complete root and branch overhaul of the EFCC and retooling of the anti corruption struggle.”
PDP’s take
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded the prosecution of Magu. The party’s national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, stated this in a statement on Wednesday.
He said, “Magu’s indictment re-inforces its position that the much-hyped war against corruption by the EFCC, under his watch, has been a huge scam by corrupt individuals to cover the plundering of public resources, harass political opponents, intimidate and extort money from innocent Nigerians.
“The party observes that the revelations of diversion of recovered funds and fraudulent sale of assets seized by the EFCC among other sleazes, as detailed in the memo by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, as well as the report of the Department of State Services (DSS) on Magu’s activities, have further exposed the racket that the fight against corruption had become.
“It is a big embarrassment to our nation, that the head of the anti-corruption agency in an administration led by the African Union (AU) anti-corruption champion and which prides itself on zero tolerance for corruption is being dragged in allegation of looting recovered fund and other barefaced frauds.
“What Nigerians expect at this moment is for President Buhari to enforce the law by directing relevant agencies to commence actions that would lead to Magu’s prosecution in the court. Anything short of this will not be acceptable to Nigerians.”
An expert’s view
In his reaction, a public affairs Analyst, Jide Ojo, said the on-going probe of Magu would further strengthen the anti-corruption war of President Buhari.
Ojo, in a phone chat with Blueprint Weekend, said, “Magu’s probe is to strengthen the war against corruption. If someone in Magu’s status who is an acting chairman of a major anti-corruption agency could be subjected to a presidential probe panel. And if you follow the story, it’s not even the first one.
“There have been previous presidential probe panels which many members of the public do not know about. So, this Ayo Salami probe panel is about the second within two months. This then means that the president wanted to be sure before he takes action. Before he will even talk about prosecution he wants to be sure that a case has been established.
“You know due process been followed, the man has even been granted bail after 10 days in detention. So, in my estimation, this is to further strengthen the anti-corruption war of this administration. We do not have all the available facts. Why the president decided to retain him as part of the DSS report. So, I want to give the president the benefit of the doubt that he actually knows what he’s doing.”
On the possibility of Magu returning as the EFCC chairman, Ojo said, “Nothing is impossible in Nigeria; what I do know for a fact in Nigeria is that it depends on your connection and the political group you belong to. So, if Justice Salami panel could not establish a case or find Magu guilty, definitely he will return.”
Opportunity to re-direct corruption war
In his view, the executive director, Societal Safety Network (SSN), Ambassador Abdulrahman Agboola, said Magu’s probe is another opportunity for the President Buhari administration to re-direct the fight against corruption.
In a phone chat with our correspondent, Agboola said, “The on-going Magu probe is an attestation to the fact that the fight against corruption needs a complete re-direction. Because the opportunity Nigerians have under this current administration may not be gotten again. The incorruptible nature of the president has been mentioned over the year, it is time for him to prove it.
“We don’t need to wait for Justice Salami Panel to pronounce Magu guilty or not guilty. Our concern is for those allegations to have come against the EFCC chairman and there are proofs that indicted the agency. We are oblivious of information in the public domain on some people’s activities in the EFCC, whether supported by Magu or not. So, there is the need to take a bow now.
“The reality is that we need the president to do more on this issue of fight against corruption. The president should know that if Nigeria fails to restore discipline under his leadership, it may be difficult for Nigeria to win the war against corruption under any other person.”
