The Senate on Thursday rejected the nomination of Mr Ibrahim Magu as Substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) six months after his name was sent for confirmation.
The Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi, made this known while briefing newsmen in Abuja.
He said the rejection of Magu’s nomination was based on security reports available to the senate.
According to Abdullahi, President Muhammadu Buhari will be communicated accordingly.
“The Senate wishes to inform the general public that based on security reports available to the senate, it cannot proceed and confirm the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as the Executive Chairman of EFCC.
“Accordingly, the Senate hereby rejects the said nomination and has returned the said nomination to Mr President for further action,’’ he said.
Sen. Abdullahi declined information on the screening of other members of the commission sent for confirmation. None of them was confirmed at plenary.
The affected appointees are Moses Nda Sule, Mamman Lawan, Imam Najib Galadanchi and Adebayo Adeleke.
The Senate at the resumption of plenary on Thursday went into a two-hour executive session with Magu but the meeting ended in a deadlock.
The Presidency had in July this year written the Senate, seeking the screening and confirmation of Magu as Substantive Chairman of EFCC.
The PUNCH, however, sighted a copy of the “security report” by the DSS in which Magu’s activities were alleged to have made him ineligible to hold the office.
The letter, dated October 3, was addressed to the Clerk of the Senate, in reference to a letter by the Senate, dated September 21, 2016, asking for Magu’s security check.
The report, which listed several alleged malpractices against the EFCC boss, said his confirmation would frustrate the anti-graft drive of the Buhari-led administration.
Part of the allegations against Magu was his being in possession of EFCC documents in his private residence during the chairmanship of Farida Waziri.
The DSS also made reference to the circumstances surrounding Magu’s arrest, detention and suspension by the Nigeria Police.
The secret service also alleged that the sum of N40m was paid for the rented apartment, which costs N20m per annum, where the acting EFCC chairman currently resides.
It added that the accommodation was not paid for from the commission’s account but by a presidential appointee, who had been under investigation.
The DSS alleged that after renting the apartment for Magu, the friend awarded a N43m contract for the furnishing of the accommodation.
The appointee, who is a retired Air Commodore, was said to be a close associate and ally of Magu, allegedly and “runs questionable business” and was once arrested by the service.
The report, which cleared the other four EFCC appointees, said Magu, flew a private jet owned by the retired military officer.
The service also claimed that the EFCC boss was once in the same flight to Maiduguri with a Managing Director of one of the new generation banks, who it alleged was under investigation.
It added that the bank chief had been linked with a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The DSS stated that after the arrest of service chiefs by the EFCC, including Badeh, Umar and Amosu, Magu’s ally, while under interrogation by the service, had confessed that he didn’t want Amosu to be probed, the reason why the EFCC arraigned Amosu after his friend’s interrogation.
The acting EFCC boss was also accused in the report of making false allegations against individuals “for personal reasons.”
The report said, “The circumstances surrounding the return of Magu to the EFCC and the role played by Lamorde and their close relationship are clear indications of his culpability in the allegation of corruption tendencies of the Lamorde-led EFCC.”
The DSS also alleged that “Magu uses only his police cronies to execute operations,” adding that the fact that the cronies had acquired landed properties “led credence to the questions about his integrity.”
The report added, “In this light, Magu has failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption drive of the present administration.”
President Buhari appointed Magu as acting chairman of the EFCC after the removal of Mr Ibrahim Lamorde on Nov. 9, 2015
Before his appointment as the acting EFCC chairman, Magu was the Head of Economic Governance Unit of the commission.
