Confirm Magu as EFCC chair, ANEEJ urges NASS

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(Nigeria) Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, has called on the National Assembly, to give accelerated attention and hearing to the confirmation of current Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu as the substantive Chairman of the commission, so that the anti-corruption battle of the current administration can move on at full throttle.

In a statement by ANEEJ’s  Executive Director, the Rev David Ugolor in Benin, Edo State on Monday, in the wake of delays in the confirmation of Magu, noted that prior to the process leading to the confirmation of  Magu as chairman of the Commission, the National Assembly went on recess and had not reconvened to dispense with the confirmation process.
“Section 2 of the EFCC Act established by the National Assembly itself does not make provisions for an acting chairman. What the section says is that there shall be a chairman who shall be the chief executive officer of the commission, and who shall not be below the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police. He is to be saddled with the responsibility of running the anti-crime commission.
“We verily believe that  Magu meets and exceeds this requirement, and therefore, his confirmation as EFCC Chairman will give the anti-corruption fight the boost it needs to end the culture of impunity and systemic corruption in Nigeria,” Ugolor said.
ANEEJ likens Magu to a square peg in a square hole. “He had served as head of the Economic Governance Unit, EGU, of the EFCC during the tenure of Nuhu Ribadu as chairman and carried out several high profile investigations including that of former Governor James Ibori and current Senate president, Bukola Saraki who was allegedly involved in the collapse Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria.
“Both Mr. Magu and President Muhammadu Buhari,  have shown by their utterances and temperament that they have zero tolerance to corruption. Within the very short time that Mr Magu has been substantive chairman of the EFCC, he has successfully tracked all, and anyone remotely and directly connected with the disbursement of money meant to fight Boko Haram to politicians.
“In addition, property linked to politically exposed persons with proceeds from offshore tax havens, have been confiscated under his watch and alleged owners are being investigated for prosecution. We believe that his confirmation as EFCC chair will send a strong message that President Buhari is indeed committed to tackle corruption.”
The statement called on the National Assembly to reconvene as quickly as possible and treat Mr. Magu’s confirmation as executive chairman of the EFCC as a matter of top priority and urgent national attention.

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