CSO Drums Support For Magu’s Retention As EFCC Chair

 A Civil Society Organisation, Initiative for Leadership and Economic Watch in Nigeria, has called for the reappointment of the Mr Ibrahim Magu as the substantive Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), stressing that his achievements in the fight against corruption remains overwhelming in Nigeria’s history. In a press conference addressed by its Secretary, Abubakar Ibrahim, Sunday in Abuja, he insisted that those contending with Magu’s reappointment have justified the need for his continued stay as the head of the anti-graft agency. Mr Ibrahim who was flanked by the CSO’s Head, Corruption Campaign Desk, Uche Philips, maintained that considering the unprecedented strides of the Ibrahim Magu-led EFCC his reappointment is key for the sustenance of Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight. See excerpts of the press statement Those Contending The Reappointment Of Ibrahim Magu As Substantive EFCC Chairman Are Equally Justifying The Need For His Reappointment To Continue To Work Selflessly For The Nation Without Compromise As Records Bares It Clear, Competence And Performance Has Finally Paved Way  ‘‘The recent turn up in the public domain with regards to the office of the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has generated public discussion with dissenting voices as to whether Ibrahim Magu should be retained or not. This has given sleepless nights to those opposing the re-submission of the current Acting Chairman’s name to the National Assembly”  “There is no naysaying to the fact that the current leadership of the EFCC has performed meritoriously and without fear of favour and this should be the bases for assessing the performance of Magu in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.’’ ‘‘The refusal by the 8th assembly to confirm the appointment of Ibrahim Magu without any concrete reason is due to the fearless nature with which the Acting Chairman is tackling corruption in Nigeria. It has sent quiver to the hearts of those who already have their hands soiled in corruption before coming to the National Assembly which has resulted to their outright refusal to confirm Magu as substantive Chairman of the EFCC. Several of the lawmakers facing financial crime charges in court in which majority of them were former governors who stole from their respective states as governor for 8years are now in the National Assembly fighting Magu’s confirmation because of his firmness and support for Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption stance’’ ‘‘The continuous challenge by those who want Magu out of office by all means indicates that the acting Chairman has done well in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, not to jettison the obvious facts that Nigeria is winning the war against corruption under the amiable leadership of Ibrahim Magu and as such he should be reappointed to continue the good works which he has started, not to truncate the effort of the present administration in placing Nigeria on the plinth of economic greatness through the assiduous effort of the current Acting Chairman in recovering Nigeria’s stolen funds and properties, for which agencies of government are already benefiting from Magu’s led EFCC. Properties worth billions of naira are been handed over to government agencies who were hitherto not having office spaces. Some of them were using rented apartments as National Headquarter and have now been handed gigantic buildings as office space rather than be in rented buildings. These and more have been made possible by the current Acting Chairman” ‘‘The agencies of government that have benefited from seized properties are: VALDS office under Ministry of Finance, a unit from the Defence Headquarters, Voice of Nigeria, PINE, and also PTAD. This has drastically helped to reduce the cost of rent for the Federal Government’’ ‘‘To further buttress the achievements of the current Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu, between January 2018 and August 2019, the commission secured more than 156 convictions and recovered N108 billion within the same period, all to his credit. The commission also recovered 106,516,222; 1,635,925 dollars; 629,193 pounds and 25,575 euro. On Thursday 8th of August 2019, the commission handed over a 13-bedroom one-storey building and a basement to the management of North East Development Commission (NEDC).  These and more are records which shows outright performance and has further underscored the need for Magu to be reappointed as substantive Chairman of EFCC without delay because he has demonstrated pragmatism, selflessness, and dedication in the discharge of his statutory duties and responsibilities in the fight against corruption in Nigeria’’ ‘‘Ibrahim Magu’s refusal to bend the rules has made those pushing for his reappointment withdraw their support which further tells a lot about Magu’s performance and should be noted with worthiness. His shrewdness towards national assignment given to him by Mr. President should also be applauded by Nigerians and the present government. We have witnessed Magu’s level of accountability and transparency demonstrated practically for public view on monies recovered so far and properties seized; for which some have been given to agencies of government as offices which has further reduced government cost. We consider this a great feat in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. ‘‘The truth must be told at this material time on how Magu repositioned the Economic and Financial Crime Commission under his watch. The milestone, the challenges of consolidating the gains of sound administrative leadership and the need for the status quo to remain will further strengthen the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Aborting this pregnancy which need another four years to deliver will affect a lot of cases that are already been prosecuted in court by Magu’s led administration, which is the grand ploy by those contending EFCC Chairmanship position and has necessitated the grand conspiracy against Magu, to remove him from office in order to stop some of the high profile cases currently being investigated by the EFCC.’’ ”We want to use this medium to call on Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the call for the removal of Magu from office by interest groups or persons who just want to satisfy their greed. Magu has performed with practical evidence to show for his work” ”It is against this background that we pass a vote of confidence on the administrative leadership of Ibrahim Magu led EFCC and for his reappointment as substantive Chairman of the commission which will further consolidate on his giant strides in office and even as he remain committed to serving his fatherland.”