BEVERLY HILLS, March 18, (THEWILL) – The refusal of the Nigerian Senate to confirm the appointment of Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, for the second time has thrown up some intriguing issues.

While it is constitutional of the Senate to confirm or reject a nominee of President Muhammadu Buhari, the role of the Department of State Services, DSS, and Magu’s statement to fight on shortly after his rejection have indicated a crack in the government controlled at both the legislative and executive arms by the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The DSS for the second time wrote a letter advising the Senate not to confirm Magu, who it accused of lacking in integrity. Among other allegations, the secret police insisted that Magu lives an ostentatious lifestyle and fraternizes with some suspects that were under the EFCC’s investigation.

Given the gravity of allegations hanging on the neck of Magu, not only should the substantive position elude him but he needs to be dropped from his present position to allow for an independent investigation into the DSS report against him.

The DSS needs to explain exactly how the supposed flamboyant lifestyle of Magu and his relationship with suspects in EFCC’s radar warranted its conclusion of charging the anti-corruption warlord with insincerity.

While at this, the public must be told the truth behind insinuations that the Senate rejected Magu’s confirmation because “he’s just too good for the job, and a lot of people are uncomfortable with people like that who are committed and determined to root out corruption from the country,” according to the Chairman of the Presidential Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay.

The upper legislative chamber must also prove that there is nothing more to their rejection of Magu, in view of rumours that some governors who are currently being probed by the EFCC influenced their allies in the Senate to go against the Acting EFCC Chairman.

There are also senators, some of them former governors, who are either being investigated or prosecuted by the EFCC for alleged graft.

Whatever the case, some questions need to be asked and answered so that the integrity of all involved can be preserved. It is scandalous that the presidency re-presented Magu to the Senate without ordering an investigation into the issues earlier raised by the DSS. Does this mean the government has no confidence in the secret police?

Against the backdrop of the Federal Government’s penchant for influencing the actions of agencies under it, including claims that security agencies were only unleashed on perceived enemies, it is difficult to comprehend the incongruity of the DSS’ action with the President’s insistence on Magu.

How can it be that as powerful as the Nigerian President is, an agency of government would stand in his way of having a nominee confirmed for a job? This is the first time that a President’s nominee is being hacked down by an agency of the Federal Government as the DSS.

THEWILL urges President Buhari to compel the DSS to reveal details of its investigation that brought about the no-integrity tag on Magu. If the embattled Magu would continue acting as the EFCC chairman as he has hinted, it then means the President really wants him for the job.

This clarification to be provided by the DSS on Magu is critical so the President can nominate a fresh candidate, or allow Magu continue in acting capacity, in which case more startling revelations could emerge along the line as the perceived enemies seem bent on humiliating the EFCC boss out of office.

THEWILL would want to caution the Presidency and other power brokers against giving the impression that President Buhari is not in charge of his government. They are not only embarrassing the President but the entire nation and are setting a dangerous precedent.

We however reject the grandstanding that can be gleaned from Sagay’s statement that “the appointor will continue to appoint”, and assert that the continued re-nomination of Magu will not bode well for the nation’s democracy.

At a time when efforts are being made to promote the relationship between the President and the Senate, such efforts should not be jeopardised because of Magu. This is because Magu’s confirmation cannot be as important to the country as having a harmonious relationship between the legislative and executive arms of government.

Given that there are so many Nigerians eminently qualified to head the EFCC and do a fantastic job of it, there is no need to heat up the nation’s polity and endanger the executive-legislative relationship on account of who occupies the substantive chairmanship position of the EFCC.

Shortly after he and Senate President Bukola Saraki had a closed-door meeting with President Buhari on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara said it was not in the place of the legislature to fight the executive.

He added that, “There is one government and no division. If he (Buhari) fails, we all fail, so it is in realisation of this that we always extend the needed support to ensure that he succeeds, so that the government will be rated as a success”.

THEWILL therefore hopes that the controversy over Magu and the EFCC Chair would not affect this professed disposition of Dogara.


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