Buhari Writes Senate To Confirm Magu As EFCC Boss

Following his impressive performance, there were strong

indications yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari

has written the Senate seeking the confirmation of Mr.

Ibrahim Magu as the substantive chairman of the Economic

and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Magu is the fourth chairman of the agency. Others before

him are Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Mrs. Farida Waziri and

Mallam Ibrahim Lamorde.

According to findings, the letter was forwarded to the

Senate through his Special Assistant to the President on

National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang.

It was gathered that the President opted for Magu because

of his “record-breaking performance, transparency, integrity

and exceptional courage” since his appointment as the

acting chairman of EFCC on November 9, 2015.

Magu was recently promoted to the post of a Deputy

Commissioner of Police based on his good performance.

His nomination as the substantive chairman of EFCC was

said to be in line with Section 2(1) (a) of the EFCC Act.

The section reads in part: “The commission shall consist of

the following members – (a) a chairman who shall (i) be

the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of the

commission; (ii) be a serving or retired member of any

government security or law enforcement agency not below

the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent;

and (iii) possess not less than 15 years cognate

experience.”

When contacted, Enang was not forthcoming on the

President’s letter.

He said, “It is not my job to speak on communication

between the President and the Senate but it is my

responsibility to work on communication between the two

arms of government. I cannot say yes or no to your

enquiry.”

As at May, the EFCC under Magu had secured140

convictions in six months.

The list included the following: a former Director-General

of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency,

Raymond Temisan Omatseye (five years for N1.5n contract

scam); a Lagos Court Registrar, Mrs. Rosulu Idowu

Oluronke (10 years for $8.4m); a former Chairman, Ogori/

Magongo Local Government Area of the Kogi State, Gabriel

Daudu(154 years for N1.4billion fraud); ex-Adamawa

Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, John Elias

Babani (10 years for N51.5m); George Uboh (three years

for selling vehicles belonging to the defunct Police

Equipment Fund).

The EFCC also secured a court order to extradite a former

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian

Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPM), Ehi

Okonyomon to the United Kingdom to face charges of

corruption and money laundering on the N750m polymer

bribery scandal.

It also got another order to extradite a Nigerian fugitive,

Franca Asemota to the UK for prosecution of trafficking of

minors.