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Nigeria’s Buhari suspends EFCC’s Ibrahim Magu over ethics breaches
Posted On 10 July 2020
Abuja, July 10, 2020 – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended the head of the country’s anti-graft body over allegations of ethics breaches, the attorney general’s office said on Friday. Ibrahim Magu, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is being questioned by a special committee probing allegations of insubordination and sales of seized assets. Magu’s suspension is “to allow for unhindered inquiry by the Presidential Investigation Panel under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act and other relevant laws,” the attorney-general’s office in Abuja said in a statement.
It said the president had also appointed Mohammed Umar, an EFCC director, to oversee the agency “pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation.” Magu, a no-nonsense senior policer, was appointed in 2016 as a key figure in Buhari’s anti-corruption campaigns. He has been questioned since Monday.
In June, the attorney-general sent a memo to Buhari detailing a raft of allegations against Magu that were leaked to the press. He accused the anti-graft head of selling off assets that had been recovered during corruption investigations and of “insubordination”. Critics said the moves aimed at getting rid of Magu and were part of a tussle for control at the top of Nigeria’s opaque elite.
AFP
PROFILE
Ibrahim Magu (born 5 May 1962) is a Nigerian police officer who served as acting chairman of the , EFCC from 9 November 2015, until his suspension on 7 July 2020. He was replaced by Muhammed Umar as the acting EFCC chairman.
Magu was appointed as EFCC chairman after , who had earlier served twice, was sacked by the , . Both Lamorde and Magu served during ’s time at the anti-graft agency and were also credited with part of the success Ribadu recorded in his time.
Early career
[]Magu was born on 5 May 1962 in , . He attended ’s primary school (from 1969 to 1975), Waka Biu's Secondary School from 1975 to 1980, and , from 1982 to 1986, where he graduated with a BSc in accounting. After the completion of his , he served in various ministries and departments in the Government as an accountant and rose to become a zonal accountant before he voluntarily resigned to join the as an assistant superintendent of police in 1990. He was the coordinator for the Nigeria Police Building Society before moving on to the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID), where he served as a team leader in charge of financial crimes, and advance fee fraud investigation.
He served as a member of the investigative committee convened by National Security Advisor (NSA), on the orders of President to probe the procurement of arms in the Armed Forces from 2007 to 2020.
Magu remains unconfirmed as the chairman of EFFC which is one of the challenges and being faced by the administration of President on appointments and nominations confirmation. The on Friday, 28 April 2018 announced the promotion of 18 senior officers after her 27th Plenary Meeting which ended in Abuja where Magu was promoted to the rank of a full commissioner from deputy commissioner.
At the end of the 8th Regional Conference of Agencies in Africa held at (, ) on 19 May 2018, Magu emerged as their new chairman. His appointment was the high point of a five-day regional conference with the theme: “Partnering Towards Assets Recovery and Return”.
On 29 May 2018, the EFCC announced that 603 Nigerian figures had been convicted on corruption charges since Buhari and Magu assumed their offices in 2015. The EFCC also announced that for the first time in Nigeria's history, judges and military officials were prosecuted.
Arrest
[]On 6 July 2020, Magu was arrested for corruption charges related to finances he allegedly embezzled for, among other things, supporting his lavish living and traveling expenses. Twenty-two corruption allegations were reported against Magu in June 2020 as well. Following his arrest, Magu remained in custody.
On 7 July 2020, Magu was suspended as the chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because of corruption allegations leveled against him.
The panel had specifically recommended that Magu should be removed “for failing to properly account for N431,000,000.00 security votes/information fund released to the office of the Executive Chairman of EFCC between November 2015 and May 2020”. The panel also recommended that Magu should be referred to the inspector-general of police for “necessary disciplinary action”.
That week, convened an investigative panel led by Justice . In late November the panel presented its report (the "Salami Report") confidentially to President Buhari. Two weeks later, President Buhari released the report which cleared Magu of the charges, and indicated that there had been a plot to discredit Magu in order to stop his anti-corruption activities. It is suggested that Attorney General was involved with the plot, in part because of the animosity he showed towards Magu, and his direct action writing a letter to President Buhari on 5 June 2020 entitled "Flagrant abuse of public office and other infractions committed by Mr Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission".
Magu was exonerated on 4 October 2022 over a false claim that Pastor of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry and his wife, Deborah, had laundered 573 million naira for him. Magu was quoted as saying “I am a victim of corruption fighting back, but I am happy that recent events are revealing the truth to Nigerians".
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