₦airaland Forum

bbamusa:
Magu: The Double Face of a Corrupt Anti-Corruption Czar

Ever since my enlistment into EFCC, I have never witnessed the level of unprecedented incompetency, selfishness, greed, and corruption in the Commission as we are seeing under the leadership of Ibrahim Magu. When Magu was appointed by President Muhammad Buhari, there were high hopes and expectations within the agency that he would be a complete upgrade from his predecessor, Ibrahim Lamorde. Little did we know that the Commission was in for a rude shock.

As someone who studied forensic accounting outside the country, I returned home to join the agency not only out of the need to be employed but from a burning desire and passion to contribute to the progress of the Nigerian nation through a robust fight against graft. Despite the initial challenges I encountered earlier at the Commission, I was beginning to settle in and was a little excited about what lies ahead, when there was a change of guard at the Commission. And so far, it has been a slide down the hill rather than up it.

My chairman has so far displayed the opposite of that which he has been mandated to check. He has exhibited extreme character flaws and his tenure has been marked by gross incompetence and inefficiency in leading the anti-corruption war. It is therefore not surprising to many in the know that his confirmation was opposed by many and why he has remained in acting capacity after five years.

Mr. Magu has bungled most of the high profile corruption cases the commission has prosecuted both locally and internationally. So bad is the situation that many criminals and fraudsters have been let off the hook for lack of diligent prosecution or insufficient evidence. His tenure has been characterized by media trial rather than actual prosecutorial success and most of the criminals he was mandated to prosecute are now lounging in different parts of the country and world.

My worry lies not only on the incompetence of the Chairman but on the public ridicule he brings to the Commission. The commission has lost its place and has become a shadow of itself. Chairman is now publicly seen aiding the escape of wanted persons for a price. The agency is now perceived as weak, inefficient, and corrupt.

International criminals like Invictus Obi, Mompha, and Hushppupi to mention a few were all reported to the commission and were let go before their eventual arrest by foreign security agencies. Despite intelligence from International Police (INTERPOL), Magu failed to act on to arrest these fraudsters when they visited the commission, mainly because of what happened behind closed doors. For example, Mompha who was flagged by the Interpol and initially arrested by the Commission was let go and is now lounging in Banana Island, Lagos.

This development among other failings of Mr. Magu has led to a break off of cooperation by foreign security services like the FBI, to collaborate with the Commission in extraditing wanted Economic and Financial criminals to face trial in Nigeria.

Not many Nigerians are aware that Mompha’s bail was secured with a well-furnished apartment acquired for Ibrahim Magu in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is therefore not surprising that many Nigerians are insisting that the recently arrested international fraudster, Ramoni Igbalodely Abbas aka Hushpuppi should not be released to the agency as they are concerned that his case too, would go the way of others.
Aside from international fraudsters, our corrupt politicians are roaming the streets freely despite damning evidence against most of them. Those the Commission had attempted to try have been set free by the court due to lack of diligent prosecution.

At this point, I am convinced beyond doubt that unless and until a new change of guard is witnessed in the Commission, the fight against corruption in the country would remain a joke. Already, the Commission under Mr. Magu has rolled decades of achievements. To allow him to continue to preside over such a critical agency would be a disservice to the country. To save the face of Nigeria from such ignominy, the President should act and LET MAGU GO!

Hkatago:
If DSS hold u for mind, forget em...them go go after u eventually...Na Magu story be that.

silica:
Ango Abdullahi, Hakeem Bello and all of them na the same. theres nothing new. if they had been given positions in the government, would they have been making noise?

Whykaveli:
Hmmm, dem don dey shift responsibility. Like make Boris Johnson tell Queen Elizabeth to take care of security responsibility in UK.

silica:
See grammar, there is fire on the mountain and you are busy speaking turanci.

Until the people are ready to fight back, these criminals will continue to think they're above the law.

veryLoudsilence:
there need to be review of the Dasuki committee report, to allow for effective inclusion of traditional rulers in specific areas of governance so they came handle the rural areas well. the loose ended mandate derived from their existence isn't so efficient anymore.

Enoch07:
if you want to lock yourself, good for you. most people don't care anymore

Abduli2019:
Nice one though and we need action not write ups

helinues:
This one na family business now