Salami’s panel quizzes Magu, may recommend sack
The Presidential Panel which probed the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, yesterday, may recommend his sack, sources said.
The panel, chaired by a former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, quizzed Magu at the Presidential Villa.
One of the credible sources said the panel was constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari to probe various allegations levelled against Magu following a petition by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the Department of State Service (DSS).
Malami’s memo allegedly accused Magu of diversion of recovered loot.
The memo was said to contain 22 allegations against the embattled EFCC chairman.
But Malami through his spokesman, Dr Umar Gwandu, said he had no knowledge of Magu’s arrest.
“You are just informing me now,” Gwandu said when told that Malami had reportedly written a memo in June, 2020, which indicted Magu.
“I am also not aware of any memo written to the president on the EFCC chairman,” he said.
How Magu was interrogated
One of our sources said the Salami panel had “quizzed Magu” who has been the acting chairman of the EFCC since when he was first nominated for the job by President Buhari in 2015.
“I am sure Justice Salami was selected to chair the panel because he will not compromise. This is a serious setback for the administration’s anti-corruption war.
“As it is now, Magu is a loner. He may be asked to handover to the most senior officer in the commission while the investigation continued. I don’t see him surviving this,” the source told one of our correspondents.
Another source told the Daily Trust yesterday that “it took a long time before President Buhari gave the green light for Magu to be interrogated.”
According to the source, “What happened yesterday was a tough decision…It was at the instance of the president and he (Buhari) agreed that Magu should be asked questions. This was based on the petitions and facts made available to him.
“Magu is the face of the anticorruption war of the president but the allegations are heavy. So, I can assure you that it was a tough decision taken by the president in order to save his image and that of his administration,” he said.
It was not clear last night whether Magu was allowed to go home after he faced the panel or the DSS took him into custody.
Why Magu was invited Presidency
The Presidency yesterday said Magu was not arrested but rather invited so that he can respond to issues as they arise.
Senior Special Assistant to the president on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a text message in response to Daily Trust enquiries, said Magu’s attention was “immediately” needed as the presidential panel investigating the disposal of recovered assets began its sitting.
Garba, while reacting to a text message that sought to know the feeling of the presidency to the DSS’s decision to invite Magu, said: “There is a presidential panel that has begun sitting, investigating the disposal of recovered assets and the EFCC chairman is responding to their questions.
“I will not call it arrest per se, as many have suggested, but they need him to be immediately available to them so that he can respond to issues as they arise,” he said. Magu could not be reached for comments last night as his mobile phone was switched off. But his media aide, Tony Amokedo, told the Daily Trust that Magu was not arrested as reported by a section of the media.
He said the EFCC boss was invited by a presidential panel investigating allegations of corruption against him and he complied.
He also said he hasn’t seen the memo purportedly written by Malami against Magu.
Journalists barred covering proceedings How DSS intercepted Magu from
Journalists were yesterday barred from the sitting of the panel set up to probe alleged violations against Magu.
Reporters that arrived at the venue to cover the event at about 3:20pm were denied access by security personnel.
“They said you people should excuse the use of this place for today,” a security official detailed to the venue, politely told reporters.
operatives
Magu was reportedly stopped by DSS operatives while moving out of the Wuse II Annex of the EFCC in Abuja.
He was intercepted while his convoy was driving out of the premises.
A source described what happened as a sting operation, saying Magu might not have honoured an invitation if extended to him by the DSS, which necessitated his arrest.
Another source said the DSS wanted to arrest the EFCC boss last week but could not because of some reasons.
However, the DSS said its operatives did not arrest Magu, saying he was only given an invitation letter.
In a statement yesterday, its spokesman, Peter Afunanya, said: “DSS wishes to inform the public that it did not arrest Ibrahim Magu, acting EFCC chairman as has been reported by sections of the media.
“The service has been inundated with enquiries over the alleged arrest,” he said.
Also yesterday, the EFCC said Magu had honoured an invitation by a presidential panel reviewing the activities of the EFCC, saying he met members of the panel at the Banquet Hall wing of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
A statement from EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale said Magu was served the invitation to the panel while on his way to the Force Headquarters, Abuja for a meeting. He said the EFCC’s boss was neither arrested nor forced to honour the invitation, adding that a member of a legal team from the EFCC was also with him on the panel.
Malami had reportedly filed a petition to President Buhari demanding the removal of Magu over alleged diversion of recovered loot, insubordination and misconduct.
Daily Trust recalled that trouble started for Magu immediately after his appointment by President Buhari to head the commission.
The Senate under Senator Bukola Saraki had refused to confirm his appointment, citing a 2016 report by the DSS.
The DSS in a 2016 report said Magu was not fit to serve as EFCC chairman.
Among other allegations, the secret agency in the report also said the Police Service Commission (PSC) had in December 2010, found Magu guilty of action prejudicial to state security - withholding of EFCC files, sabotage, unauthorised removal of EFCC files and acts unbecoming of a police officer, and awarded him severe reprimand as punishment.
On his part, Magu has been complaining about the danger of fighting corruption, often being quoted in the media telling reporters that corruption fights back.
Magu, like his predecessors, is facing his own problems. His predecessor Lamorde was removed by President Buhari in a shroud of corruption allegations.
Also, Lamorde succeeded Farida Waziri whose sack was announced on a Twitter handle on November 23, 2011 during the time of President Goodluck Jonathan. Her removal followed allegations that the commission was selective in its investigations, especially as many members of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were being prosecuted.
PACAC reacts
A member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Femi Odekunle, said yesterday that the interrogation of Magu was part of the power play at the Presidential Villa.
Odekunle said in a statement: “Of course, the real information reaching us is that he (Magu) was only invited to appear before a panel set up not long ago concerning some alleged memo by Malami, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, regarding some alleged malfeasance by Magu, along with nominations for his replacement.
“It was just that those sent to invite him for whatever reasons best known to them invited some press along and made it look an arrest.
“That mischief has been confirmed by some apparent afterthought denial by the DSS that it was not an arrest. While PACAC has not had a formal meeting on this development, I have discussed with the chairman and some other members and the following can be considered as PACAC’s preliminary reaction to this development.
1.The alleged originating Malami memo, up to the current “arrest “seems an outcome of power-play by power blocs in the corridors of power in which Malami appears to be an arrowhead or major agent of a power bloc that is not really interested in, or in support of, Buhari’s anticorruption fight.
i. One can recall the earlier nonconfirmation experience of Magu by the 8th Assembly, orchestrated by a power bloc and supported by the DSS ‘Security’ reports.
ii. One can also note the non-resubmission of Magu for confirmation since May, 2019 despite the apparent willingness of the 9th Assembly to consider it this time around.
iii. Furthermore, one must take cognisance of the alleged memo referred to earlier i.e by Malami concerning alleged corrupt practices by Magu, along with his own nominations for Magu’s replacement. iv. Again, we cannot forget Malami’s demand of certain high profile case files from Magu which the latter has been resisting.
“The position of PACAC is that while Magu, or any official of whatever status, must be nailed if found to be corrupt, the president must be careful not to shoot his anti-corruption fight /modest achievements in the foot, and not to forget that EFCC under Magu has been the administration’s anti-corruption poster-face.
“It may not be contestable that Malami has been exploiting his alleged loyalty and closeness to the president for his personal /power bloc agenda. For, to the best of PACAC’s knowledge and observations, Malami has not manifested any genuine commitment to the anticorruption fight,” he said.
PDP asks Buhari to allow Magu’s investigation
The PDP yesterday asked President Buhari to show the genuineness of his war against corruption by allowing unhindered investigation of Magu.
The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Nigerians were already aware that Magu had been pulled in for questioning, adding that Buhari should allow the law to take its course.
“The PDP holds that the development around the EFCC acting chairman as well as the desperate attempt by the Commission to cover or wave off his investigation, only raise more integrity questions regarding Magu’s activities in the EFCC.
“Only last month, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, released a memo in which he indicted Magu of alleged diversion of recovered funds and fraudulent sale of assets seized by the EFCC.
“Our party, Nigerians and indeed, the international community are keenly monitoring the development and expect the Buhari Presidency to muster the courage to carry out a comprehensive investigation and make its findings available to the public.
“Now that Magu has been pulled in for investigation, the federal government should preserve the integrity of the office of the chairman of the EFCC by ordering him to step aside while investigators take charge of every activities of the office to forestall destruction of evidence as well as unnecessary interferences in the matter,” the party said.