The
embattled acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr.
Ibrahim Magu, has been unable to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari since the
beginning of the crisis that engulfed the confirmation of his appointment.
Reliable
sources said Saturday that Magu had made
spirited efforts to see President Buhari in the aftermath of the Senate’s
refusal to confirm his appointment. The Senate, on Thursday, had based its
decision on a security report by the Department of State Service which accused
Magu of abuse of office and corruption.
The
report by the DSS says Magu’s antecedents and his conduct after his appointment
as the anti-corruption czar, made him ineligible to hold the office in full
capacity.
The
DSS report concludes, “Magu has failed the integrity test and will eventually
constitute a liability to the anti-corruption drive of the present
administration.”
It was gathered that the
embattled EFCC chairman, who is said to be at loggerheads with some members of
Buhari’s kitchen cabinet, tried to see the President on Saturday night but his
efforts were futile.
Buhari’s
Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, handles the President’s appointments and
determines, in most cases, who gets to see him.
There
have been reports that Magu is involved in a power struggle with the Director
General of the DSS, Mr. Lawal Daura, and some top aides of the President, who
are said to be against his confirmation. The acting EFCC chairman is said to be
an ally of the National Security Adviser, Gen. Babagana Monguno.
Magu
was conspicuously absent at the Saturday’s wedding of the President’s daughter,
Zahra, to Ahmed Indimi. However, other heads of security agencies including the
former chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, were present at the lunch which held
inside the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.
Multiple
sources in the presidency confirmed on Saturday that Magu
was sighted in the Presidential Villa around 6.30pm on Friday.
While
he failed to see the President, Magu attended the Asset Recovery team meeting
which holds weekly at the Presidency. The meeting had Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo ; the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; the
Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed, and others, in attendance.
It was learnt that Magu
has written a letter stating his side of the story over the allegations
levelled against him by the DSS. A source, who said the letter would be
delivered to the President during the week, added that Magu defended himself
and also detailed his running battles with some of the president’s closest
aides.
Magu,
it was gathered, had wanted to issue a statement through the agency to respond
to the DSS allegations, but later had a change of mind.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that the confirmation crisis had polarised the
President’s cabinet.
A
source in government said that some ministers who are in support of Magu
visited the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, before the Senate
session on Thursday. The source said the ministers tried to prevail on Saraki
to ensure that Magu was confirmed. Saraki was said to have told them that he
did not have the sole power to confirm the EFCC’s acting chairman.
Some
ministers who are however staunchly against Magu reportedly reached out to the
senate president and urged him not to make the mistake of ensuring Magu’s
confirmation or it could come back to haunt him.
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Politics