Magu Is Corrupt, Have No Integrity, DSS Petition Senate
The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday again declined to confirm Ibrahim Magu as the substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission.
His nomination was rejected by the majority of the senators present at the plenary after it was put to a vote.
Magu’s rejection by the Senate followed the receipt of another letter from the Department of State Services (DSS) which stated that the acting EFCC chairman would be “a liability to the anti-corruption fight of the present administration” if confirmed.
The Senate had on December 15, 2016, declined to confirm him based on a DSS status report which discredited his capability to carry out his duties creditably. The DSS also accused Magu of being corrupt, an accusation the acting EFCC boss queried.
The content of the earlier letter was upheld by another one which was received by the Senate on March 14.
Magu took charge of the EFCC in an acting capacity following the expiration of the tenure of his former boss, Ibrahim Lamorde, in November 2015. He had presided over the affairs of the commission for eight months before Vice President Yemi Osinbajo made the nomination to the Senate on July 22, 2016, when he (Osinbajo) was acting president.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who initially appointed Magu had cleared him of any wrongdoing.
In a letter addressed to the Senate President in January, Buhari said he believed Magu was capable of carrying his duty as the head of the anti-corruption outfit in line with the vision of the administration.
“Distinguished Senators, in view of my conviction, there is need to maintain the momentum of anti-graft fight, while I urge the Senate to reconsider Ibrahim Magu as substantive EFCC Chairman,” Buhari wrote in the letter.
