Politics
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A CIVIL rights movement under the aegis of Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiative, CGGCI, on January 15, expressed pessimism that the continued preoccupation of office by Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was denting Nigeria’s image in the international community.
The organisation wondered why President Muhammadu Buhari would continue to keep him in office, despite the overwhelming evidence of graft which made the Senate not to confirm his appointment.
This prompted Okpokwu Ogenyi, national coordinator and spokesperson of CGGCI, at a press briefing in Abuja, to advise the president to, as a matter of urgency, send another nominee to the Senate for confirmation if the anti-corruption war is to be sustained.
While insisting that the coalition had nothing personal against Magu, he said there was no need keeping him because the country has more capable hands to fill the position of EFCC chairman.
Ogenyi challenged the president to inject fresh blood into the on going anti-graft war to save the country from total collapse and global embarrassment.
He said, “There is need to inject fresh blood into the anti-graft war to save Nigeria from total collapse. Since his rejection by the Senate, president Buhari has surprisingly maintained a disturbing silence.
“We are, therefore, calling on President Buhari to immediately send another nominee to the Senate for confirmation as chairman of the EFCC as the continued retention of Magu in acting capacity is giving his anti-corruption drive a negative perception.
“We wish to remind Mr. President that the EFCC Establishment Act, under Section 2(1)(a)(2), states that an EFCC chairman shall be ‘a serving or returned member of any government security agency or law enforcement agency’. We then make bold to say that there are thousands of better qualified people in the Nigerian security or law enforcement agencies. Mr. President must find a man of integrity, serving or retired among the law enforcement agencies.”
The group emphasised that authenticating the allegations against Magu was not the focus at the moment, adding that the current issue was that Nigeria is dying economically and must be saves now.
Ogenyi stressed that the war against corruption must not be built around individuals but the EFCC as an institution, stressing that individuals come and go but the Commission should remain strong.
— Jan 16, 2017 @ 13:00 GMT
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