Will Buhari Sack Magu?
POLITICS DIGEST- There are speculations that President Muhammadu Buhari may sack the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu.
The speculation may not be unconnected with a recent memo the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami reportedly sent to the President, where he accused the EFCC Boss of insubordination and liability to anti-corruption fight of the Buhari administration.
The Saturday Independent reports that Magu would not only be on his way out of office, but also may be looking towards days of accounting for alleged financial infractions levelled against him by Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
The paper further stated that President Muhammadu Buhari had given Malami approval to investigate and prosecute Magu following his memorandum, where he itemised 22 weighty allegations against the EFCC chairman.
Magu is in acting capacity as EFCC Chairman since 2015, he has occupied the office for nearly five years.
The sources said the EFCC chairman will temporarily hand over the anti-graft agency to the next most senior officer, Mohammed Umar Abba who is the Director of Operations of the agency.
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Malami had also included a shortlist of three candidates for consideration to replace Magu.
Those recommended by Malami include: FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, he is the most favoured among the three names Malami submitted to the president.
One of the sources said the president wanted the panel to investigate the authenticity of the property and proxy allegations against Magu, noting that “Because of the weight of the allegations, and the kind of person managing the EFCC, the president wouldn’t want to take any decision in a hurry. So he made sure a crack team is assembled to look into the matter holistically.”
According to him, Ayo Salami, former President of Court of Appeal, is heading the panel with the offices of National Security Adviser (NSA); Director General, Department of State Services (DSS); Director General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Police, and Attorney General of the Federation as members. The panel has two weeks to submit its report to the president but had already done a week.
Malami had in his memorandum to the president, made allegations bordering on financial malfeasances in failure to declare actual money recovered from looters. He also accused Magu of gross insubordination, refusing directives from the commission’s supervisory ministry; and as a result, the Federal Government has come under severe attack and embarrassment on account of odium stemming from poorly pursued investigations. The AGF’s memo made strong innuendos purporting that Magu has made himself a willing tool in the hands of politicians thereby reducing the sterling reputation EFCC once enjoyed.
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