Investigations have revealed how the State Security Service (SSS) or DSS lied against the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu which led to the refusal of the Senate to confirm him.
It is no longer news that the Nigerian Senate refused to confirm Magu as the substantive chairman of EFCC based on a DSS report.
PREMIUM TIMES fact checked the details in the so-called report after obtaining the security report and below are their findings;
1.) The first allegation in the DSS report was that during the tenure of Fariza Waziri as EFCC chairperson, sensitive documents were found in Magu’s home.
Facts do not support that claim as reporter for the newspaper extensively reported the event in 2008 when it happened, and is familiar with what transpired at the time.
Based on pressure from political gladiators of the period (among which were former Governors James Ibori and Bukola Saraki), then President Musa Yar’Adua unceremoniously removed Nuhu Ribadu as chairman of the EFCC.
After Mr. Ribadu’s departure, his successor, Mrs. Waziri, frustrated some of his closest and most resourceful aides in the commission, and harassed them for prolonged period.
Mr. Magu, who was a chief superintendent of police at the time, was sent away from the EFCC and his Lagos and Abuja homes were raided by operatives even before he had the opportunity to hand over to Umar Sanda as head of the Economic Governance Unit of the commission. He was later detained for three weeks.
Following complaints by Mrs. Waziri, the then Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, queried Mr. Magu, accusing him of serious misconduct. One of the allegations against him was that he removed and withheld EFCC files.
On August 25, 2008, Mr. Magu replied the query, explaining to the IGP that no unauthorized EFCC official documents were found in his home.
“I wish to state that the nature of my assignment at the EFCC is such that I worked round the clock and it was impossible for me to do my work effectively without working on some documents at home,” he wrote to Mr. Okiro at the time. “This is the reason I maintain an office bag where documents relating to investigations were kept. The documents listed were found in my office bag which I was in the process of handing over and were not found hidden anywhere in my house.
“It is therefore not the correct position to say that I bluntly refused to hand over EFCC’s property and documents. I had just concluded handing over the Abuja office and I was in Lagos to conclude handing over the Lagos office when the search was conducted. At the time of the search, I had not reported to my new command. It could therefore not be my intention to keep government documents in my house.
“I have suffered untold humiliation within the past one month. My home was ransacked, vandalized and my properties destroyed by men of the EFCC. I was detained in a cell meant for hardened criminals most of whom are armed robbers for three weeks. My health condition deteriorated as a result of his inhuman treatment meted out to me for doing my job diligently and with the pride required of a senior police officer of my rank in the Nigerian Police Force.
“I humbly implore the Inspector General of Police to totally exonerate me from blame and the said acts of serious misconduct because I was not involved and I am not involved. I will never be discouraged in my unrelenting war against crime and its associated manifestations as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
After investigation, the police IG exonerated Mr. Magu, posted him to the police’s Special Fraud Unit and promoted him to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police shortly afterwards.
2.) In the report, Mr. Magu was accused of currently occupying a residence rented for N40 million at N20 per annum and was paid for by one Umar Mohammed, a air commodore retired.
Evidence obtained showed that the property in question was paid for by the Federal Capital Development Administration, and not Mr. Umar.
Mr. Magu lived in Karu, a suburb of Abuja, before his appointment as acting EFCC chair. With his new position, Mr. Magu moved into an official residence provided by the FCDA.
3.) The allegation that the acting EFCC chairman regularly embarked on official and private trips through a private jet owned by embattled Air Commodore Mohammed Umar (Rtd).
Checks show that this is not entirely correct and that Mr. Magu first met Mr. Umar when both of them worked as members of the Presidential Committee on the investigation of arms procurement. At the time, Mr. Umar was very close to President Muhammadu Buhari and had unlimited access to the presidential villa. Both men became close during the assignment.
Magu travelled to Kano in company of EFCC’s director of finance and that in charge of organizational support. Those familiar with the trip said on their way back to Abuja, Mr. Umar, who at the time remained Mr. Magu’s colleague at the presidential committee, and who was at the time not in any trouble with the SSS, gave the two officials a lift.
However there was no evidence to indicate that Mr. Magu flew in Mr. Umar’s private jet at any other time. Neither was it established that the EFCC chairman flew to Maiduguri alongside Mr. Umar and a bank MD being investigated by the EFCC over complicity in funds allegedly stolen by former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
4.) The last claim was that Mr. Magu maintained a high-profile lifestyle especially flying first class despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that all public servants to fly economy class.
Sources didn’t deny the authenticity of the claim that Magu indeed flew first class to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj but he did not pay for the ticket with public funds.
The post [REVEALED] How DSS Lied Against Magu To Stop His Confirmation As EFCC Chairman appeared first on LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS BREAKING HEADLINES NEWSPAPERS.
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