A group, the Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) has described as troubling, the absence of any move in the Presidency to confirm Mr. Ibrahim Magu as substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In a statement issued Wednesday in Abuja, and signed by its Executive Director, Comrade Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, CHRICED said the non confirmation of the EFCC boss, three months into President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term in office is an indication of the lack of strategic oversight to institutionalize and deepen the fight against corruption. The group stated that anti-corruption efforts were not being well served in a situation in which ministers had been nominated by the President and screened by the Senate, while the head of a critical anti-corruption agency continued to function in acting capacity, three years after he was first nominated.
It would be recalled that Magu’s was first nominated, but rejected by the Senate in December 2016 and again in March 2017. President of the 8th Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki had at the time pointed at a report from the Department of State Services (DSS) indicting Magu for alleged improprieties, as the reason why the nomination was not confirmed. This background was referenced by CHRICED when it stated that: “the narrative when the Bukola Saraki led 8th Senate held sway was that the Senate President and his cohorts constituted the stumbling block to the confirmation of the EFCC Acting Chairman. Now however, there is a new leadership of the Senate in place; it is curious that the administration has not deemed it an utmost necessity to again forward Magu’s name for confirmation.
“It is disturbing that while the likes of Ibrahim Magu who are working hard, even within the limitations to fight the monster of corruption in the polity are being overlooked for confirmation, Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), who are being investigated and indicted by the anti-corruption agencies, have not only been nominated by the President, but cleared to serve as ministers by the Senate.” The civic group further flayed what it described as double standard, “wherein those making sacrifices for the good of the country are denied their rightful honour and those with suspicious antecedents are garlanded in the highest executive decision-making body of our country.” These developments, the group noted sends troubling signals to citizens and the international community.
