The presidential panel probing Ibrahim Magu, suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over grave misconducts and sleaze, has recommended his sack.
In its interim report submitted on Wednesday, the panel headed by Ayo Salami, retired president of the Court of Appeal, also recommended for Magu’s immediate prosecution for being deeply involved in the ills he was employed to fight..
Magu is also accused of violating the nation’s Code of Conduct laws by purportedly failing to declare all his assets when he assumed office in 2015.
According to TheCable, the panel also recommended the appointment of a new chairman for the anti-graft agency “without further delay,” although this has been done in earnest.
In a letter dated July 3, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the panel to submit its interim reports to him randomly as the case may be.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Umar, a Deputy Commissioner of Police and former Director of Operations of the Commission, has been in charge of the Commission in acting capacity since July 6, 2020 when Magu was whisked before the panel by a combined team of Department of State Services (DSS) and operatives from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the police in Abuja.
He was then detained at the FCT Police Command for nine days before being granted bail.
The travails of Magu, a Commissioner of Police, was pursuant to a memo by Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation, who had accused him of “grave malfeasance”.
He was alleged to have mishandled the recovered loot and sold seized assets to either himself or his associates.
Magu was also alleged to have purchased a choice property in Dubai, United Arab Emirates using a pastor as a conduit.
He has since denied all the allegations which he described as arrant “nonsense”, once saying: “what I am going through is a case of dog eats dog”.
The former acting chairman of EFCC has also accused the panel of not giving him fair hearing.
- Pix: Ibrahim Magu, former EFFC Ag Chair