Corruption Fighter, Magu, drowns in political storm, By Kings UBA

 

Corruption Fighter, Magu, Drowns in Political Storm, By Kings UBA

For five years, a taciturn police officer, who claimed that COVID-19 came from corruption, Ibrahim Magu, held sway in Nigeria’s economic crimes fighting institution, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). For those five years, Magu remained in an acting position. The National Assembly, for whatsoever reason refused to make him a substantive chairman.

Magu, who, by the virtue of his position is a mad dog programmed to go after corrupt people both in public and private sectors was on a dash against the named corrupt people. He arrested a number of high-profile people including ex-state governors. Nigerians clapped for him but held a reservation that Magu on went after people in the opposition party—the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But that was understandably, politically correct.

Recently, Magu started having problems with some powerful personas in the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government. The disagreement culminated in the drama on Monday when he was arrested, detained and eventually sacked from the position of the EFCC Chairman.

There are insinuations that Magu’s ordeal is political. Nigeria will go to the polls in 2023, three years away, but the political scheming for 2023 has started in earnest. There is a powerful block in the government which is controlled by a Western Nigerian force led by Ahmed Bola Tinubu. There is another powerful block controlled Buhari loyalists. Tinubu has been scheming to contest the number seat. But this does not sit well with the power block in the northern Nigeria. So, there is face-off. Adams Oshiomole, who was the Chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) became the first major casualty because he danced to the tone of Bola Tinubu. Oshiomole’s case was bad because he did not know when the drumbeat changed. He thought that things were still the way they were when anything Tinubu flies. Magu has been an errand boy for the APC government where Tinubu flourished. He had taken a lot of directives from Tinubu and remained loyal to him. Checking Tinubu would mean also removing Magu from the powerful position and replacing him with someone who would not have any bond with Tinubu.

The Façade is that Magu’s problem began with a memo by the minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubaker Malami SAN to the President wherein he accused Magu of insubordination to constituted authority, discrepancy in figures of recovered funds, re-looting the loot, living above his means, selling recovered assets to his cronies and friends and running a cabal in EFCC known as +Magu Boys’ among other sundry allegations.

However, people in the power game say that there is more to this than the insubordination claim my the Honourable Minister.