Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: Ibrahim Magu

  • President Buhari hits EFCC with a purge, suspends Secretary Olukoyede, 11 others

    President Buhari hits EFCC with a purge, suspends Secretary Olukoyede, 11 others

    Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended about 12 senior officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, P.M News reports.

    The notice of suspension was communicated to the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Mohammed Umar, on Tuesday night by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

    The suspension of the about 12 senior officials is connected to the probe of alleged atrocities committed under the leadership of Ibrahim Magu, the disgraced and suspended Chairman of the EFCC.

    According to P.M News, sources close to the presidency disclosed on Tuesday night that the executive secretary of the EFCC, Olanipekun Olukoyede was not spared the sweeping suspension at the agency.

    READ ALSO: Lagos, USAID sign pact towards new electrification plan for residents

    P.M News, the Nigerian newspaper reported that a source said: “they were suspended for various alleged criminal and corrupt infractions”, so as to not compromise ongoing investigations into alleged corruption leveled against the officials.

    “All the top officials in the agency have been suspended, their offices locked, to prevent any tampering with files at the commission”, the source added.

    President Buhari suspended Ibrahim Magu, the former acting chairman of the agency last week and appointed the director of operations, Mohammed Umar Abba, to lead the agency in acting capacity.

    It was said that Umar was spared the sweeping suspension because he was not culpable in the alleged criminal dealings leveled against Magu and some senior officers.

    Following his confirmation by the Senate in November 2018, Olukoyede was appointed the Secretary to the EFCC.

    The senior member of the Nigerian Bar Association was first a chief of staff to Magu, and later ascend to the position of Secretary of the EFCC after the five-year tenure of Emmanuel Aremo expired in July 2018.

    The former acting chairman of the agency is facing for the second week, grilling by the presidential panel headed by Justice Ayo Salami, over financial allegations and improprieties, including money laundering.

    He is facing tough questioning over allegations that he re-looted funds recovered by the commission. And that he accepted bribes to pervert cases of graft.

    He is also accused of mismanagement of recovered assets by the EFCC.

    Among the issues Magu is helping the panel to resolve are wide discrepancies in figures of recovered monies published by the agency.

    The panel has also asked him to react to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit(NFIU) report accusing him of siphoning money from the EFCC.

    NFIU report showed that a particular Bureau de Change, owned by Ahmed Ibrahim Shanono linked to the Acting Chairman based in Kaduna has more than 158 accounts and has been receiving huge sums of funds.

    READ ALSO: Gokada founder, Fahim Saleh gruesomely murdered in US

    The report also accused Magu of laundering money through Pastor Emmanuel Omale of Hand of God Prophetic Ministry.

    Omale was alleged to have bought a landed property on behalf of Magu worth N573 million in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

    “Another individual who is helping in laundering funds for the Acting Chairman and who has been referred to in several petitions is one Pastor Emmanuel Omale (Hand of God Prophetic Ministry)” a source quoted by P.M News stated.

  • You’re unfit to lead an agency like EFCC, PDP condemns Magu

    You’re unfit to lead an agency like EFCC, PDP condemns Magu

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Saturday said the President Muhammadu Buhari-Federal Government must not cover for the indicted Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), but ensure that he answers for alleged corruption, reported violation of rules, victimisation of Nigerians and stealing of recovered funds for which he has been suspended.

    “What Nigerians expect at this time is for the Federal Government to ensure Magu’s prosecution in court as well as take necessary and decisive steps to restore the integrity of the EFCC by ensuring that Magu’s replacement as EFCC Chairman is thoroughly screened to avoid the ills and violations experienced under the suspended acting chairman,” PDP said.

    The party described Magu as not only being unfit to lead an agency like the EFCC, but has also allegedly “reduced the anti-corruption agency to a house of corruption and a partisan witch-hunt organisation that thrives in violation of rules, abuse of investigation processes, manipulation of court procedures as well as a vehicle to harass and extort money from innocent Nigerians.”

    The opposition party stated that “Magu should be made to provide answer to allegations in the public space that he was more interested in securing politically induced convictions rather than justice, for which he allegedly turned EFCC into a terror house where innocent Nigerians are harassed with trumped-up charges and convicted on media trial even before being allowed to defend themselves in court.”

    The party said: “There are also allegations of violation of rights, including allegedly making his victims to make statements in custody without the services of their lawyers. This is in addition to insinuations in the public that the indicted EFCC boss was also harassing certain judges to get conviction on cases.

    “Similarly, there are several cases of officers and ranks of the commission whose employment in the service were unjustly suspended or terminated.”

    PDP accused Magu og destroying “the integrity of the anti-corruption agency with his manifest selective fight against corruption, in which no member of the current administration, including those who have been openly indicted for corruption, has been prosecuted by EFCC.”

    “Nigerians can recall that under Magu, the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, was bold to state that once a corrupt person joins the APC, all his sins are forgiven.

    “Moreover, the memo by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, detailing charges of diversion of recovered funds, secret sale of seized property and insubordination among others now validates the position of most Nigerians that Ibrahim Magu lacks the required discipline, exposure and experience to head an agency like EFCC,” the party added.

    PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, also urged “an investigation into the alleged connection between the indicted EFCC boss and certain judges handling EFCC cases, while calling on the judiciary to sanitise the courts in this direction.”

    Idowu Sowunmi

  • EFCC: FG confirms Magu’s suspension, Umar’s appointment as Acting Chairman

    EFCC: FG confirms Magu’s suspension, Umar’s appointment as Acting Chairman

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate suspension of Ibrahim Magu as Ag. Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in order to allow for unhindered inquiry by the Presidential Investigation Panel under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act and other relevant laws.

    READ ALSO: Magu Probe: Osinbajo requests IGP investigate N4billion allegations by blogger

    This is contained in a statement issued by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice made available to newsmen on Friday the 10th day of July, 2020.

    READ ALSO: EFCC: DCP Mohammed Umar resumes as Acting Chairman, PDP berates Govt.

    According to the statement, President Muhammadu Buhari has also approved that the EFCC Director of Operations, Mohammed Umar, should take charge and oversee the activities of the Commission pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and further directives in that regards.

  • Magu Probe: Osinbajo requests IGP to investigate N4billion allegations by blogger

    Magu Probe: Osinbajo requests IGP to investigate N4billion allegations by blogger

    Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has written to the Inspector General of Police damanding investigation into some “vicious and malicious” allegations that he had obtained part of a N39 billion recovered loot in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The Vice President’s move follows allegations by an online journalist, Jackson Ude, who in an article published in Point-Blank news on the 8th of July alleging that VP Osinbajo collected N4 billion from the suspended EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu.

    Vice President Osinbajo, who wrote through his lawyers is asking the Inspector General of Police to conduct full investigation into allegations made by Ude from Point-Blank news.

    The blogger had also alleged that embattled Magu is begging for a soft landing from the presidential panel because of the alleged illegal transaction between him and the Vice President.

    According to the letter written by Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s lawyers from the chambers of Bayo Osipitan and Co dated 8th July 2020, Ude’s allegations were described as vicious and malicious meant to portray the vice president as a dishonest and disloyal public officer unfit for the office of the vice president.

    The letter called for a thorough investigation into the allegations made by Jackson Ude, noting that if those claims are found to be false, then criminal proceedings for criminal defamation should be brought against Jackson Ude.

    Osinbajo’s call comes on the heels of an ongoing probe into the operations of Ibrahim Magu as acting boss of the EFCC.

    Magu, who is believed to have been removed from office is spending a fourth day in the custody of the Nigeria Police.

    This comes as the presidential panel continues its investigation into the activities of the commission under the leadership of Magu.

    The panel is reported to have extended its probe to properties alleged to have been acquired by Magu in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    On Tuesday night, a team of security officials reportedly searched his homes in Abuja and were reported to have left with some documents, although it was not confirmed if anything incriminating was found during the search.

    The investigation of Magu followed the allegations of misconduct levelled against him by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

    Nigeria’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Abubakar Malami

    Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was said to have written to President Muhammadu Buhari, demanding the removal of Magu as the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency.

    Meanwhile, the Presidency believes the probe has reinforced the commitment of the Buhari administration to transparency and accountability.

  • EFCC: DCP Mohammed Umar resumes as Acting Chairman, PDP berates Govt.

    EFCC: DCP Mohammed Umar resumes as Acting Chairman, PDP berates Govt.

    A Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Mohammed Umar, has been appointed as Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The appointment of Umar by President Muhammadu Buhari comes after Ibrahim Magu, who is being investigated for alleged corruption, was suspended.

    Recall that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Abubakar Malami had In his petition against Magu recommended to the President three candidates to replace the now suspended Acting Chairman, Umar’s choice as Acting Chairman is a deviation from that list.

    Mohammed, who, until his appointment, was the Director of Operations at the anti-graft agency, resumed duties yesterday, Wednesday.

    The presidential probe panel headed by Justice Ayo Salami, is specifically looking into sundry documents and meeting with persons connected to the case at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Reports have it that access to the premises of where the probe panel is sitting was heavily guarded by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

    However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded that the Federal Government immediately begin prosecution of Magu.

    The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, yesterday, observed that the alleged diversion of recovered funds and fraudulent sale of assets seized by the EFCC among other forms of sleaze, as detailed in the memo by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, as well as the DSS report on Magu’s activities, further exposed the racket that the fight against corruption had become under the All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

    It stated that Magu’s indictment reinforced its position that the hyped corruption war by the EFCC under Magu had been a huge scam.

    Also, an arm of the party known as the Peoples Democratic Party Youth Alliance (PDPYA) called for immediate resignation of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for his involvement in the case. Magu, who is under probe on a 22-count charge of fraud, alleged that he gave N4 billion out of the N39 billion he recovered to Osinbajo.

    In a release made available to newsmen yesterday, Kalu said the development was clear evidence that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration had only been paying lip service to the corruption fight.

    In the same vein, former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has asked security agencies to tighten the noose around Magu, for him not to escape. Fayose yesterday called on the DSS, the police and other security agencies to place the suspect on the country’s watch list, so that he would not disappear into thin air.

    This is just as the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) called on the panel to be thorough and fair in its investigation. According to the Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwal Musa (Rafsanjani), while it is unclear what the real issues are, “CISLAC is concerned about the conflicting signals it sends to Nigerians. Being that Magu heads a very sensitive position in a government agency tasked with the investigation of financial crimes, it is thus pertinent that the case be handled with all diligence and transparency to ensure that the gains in the fight against corruption are not lost in the battle for supremacy and political advantage.”

  • I never requested N4b from Magu – VP Osinbajo refutes

    I never requested N4b from Magu – VP Osinbajo refutes

    Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo refutes unsubstantiated claim by a serial fake news peddler linking him to a money deal with the suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ibrahim Magi.

    According to a statement on Wednesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media, Laolu Akande, the suspended boss of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Ibrahim Magu never gave N4 billion to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    Akande said the reports that Osinbajo ordered Magu to give him the money from the recovered looted funds were “lies”.

    “These are totally false and baseless fabrications purporting to reflect goings-on at the Probe Panel investigating Mr Ibrahim Magu.

    “They are indeed completely absurd in every respect”, Akande Stated.

    Magu is being questioned by a presidential panel for allegedly cornering properties recovered from corrupt officials.

    The questioning comes after Nigeria’s attorney general in June sent a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari detailing a raft of allegations against Magu that were leaked to the press.

    The attorney general accused the anti-graft head of selling off assets recovered during corruption investigations and of “insubordination”.

    Critics said the moves aimed at getting rid of Magu and part of a tussle for control at the top of Nigeria’s notoriously opaque elite

    However, the proponent of the allegation against Vice President Osinbajo, one Jackson Ude, is widely known to peddle fake news through his Pointblank platform.

     

     

    Pointblanknews.com, owned by government critic Jackson Ude, claimed that Osinbajo ordered Magu to release the funds “very day the president left the country for the United Kingdom on medical treatment.”

    President Muhammadu Buhari has travelled to the United Kingdom for medical care more than once.

    The first medical trip to London, on June 6, 2016, which lasted for 10 days, was over an ear infection, while the second lasted 51 days for an undisclosed ailment. He was away for 104 days, from May 8, 2017, till August 19, 2017, for his third medical trip to the UK.

    On September 21, he left from the US to the UK for the fourth medical trip and returned to Nigeria on September 25, 2017.

    In his fifth medical trip to London, Buhari was from May 8, 2018, and he returned on May 11.

    The report by Pointblank News did not say when Osinbajo supposedly gave the order.

    “Such mindless, vicious and reckless publications have now become the preferred tool of unscrupulous and reprobate elements in our society who are procured with monetary inducement to peddle blatant falsehood, tarnish the image of upright public officials and mislead unsuspecting Nigerians,” Akande said.

     

  • EFCC Chair: 3 likely candidates to take over as Magu’s travail persists

    EFCC Chair: 3 likely candidates to take over as Magu’s travail persists

    As suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) gets busy with clearing his name of corruption allegation that bothers on disparities in recovered loots, selling of seized properties to cronies, and insurbordination to the Minister of Justice, three candidates are likely to take over his job.

    While there are speculations that Magu already moved out of his official residence, talks about the replacement of a man who spearheaded the process of sending people found guilty of corruption to prison, and now facing the same charges himself have already begun.

    Recall that the drumbeat of Magu’s removal began to sound when in June, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), recommended to President Muhammadu Buhari the sacking of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu.

    Malami didn’t stop at recommending Magu’s sack; he included a list of three candidates for consideration to replace Magu.

    Abba kyari, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IGP-IRT)

    Abba Kyari: He is a Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IGP-IRT) charged with combating kidnapping and other crimes. Nicknamed Nigeria’s Jack Bauer, Kyari was born on March 17, 1975 and joined the Nigeria Police Academy in Kano in year 2000. After his training at the Academy, he was posted to Adamawa State for a one year compulsory attachment.

    Kyari is well known in Lagos where he once served as head of Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos Police Command.

    Muhammad Wakili, a former Police Commissioner in Kano State

    Muhammad Wakili: He is a former Police Commissioner in Kano State who retired only last year. Before he left Kano, he bagged the nickname ‘Singham’, a name of a crime fighter in a bollywood movie.

    Wakili, who studied Language and Linguistics at the University of Maiduguri and graduated in 1986, joined the Nigeria Police Force a year after he concluded the mandatory National Youth Service Corp programme.

    After undergoing various trainings, Wakili was commissioned as Assistant Superintendent of Police in 1989 and worked at different commands across the country.

    Wakili has a working experience at the EFCC during the tenure of former Chairman of the agency, Farida Waziri.

    He is currently the Special Adviser on Security Matters to Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya.

    Habu Sani, Commissioner of Police in kano State

    Habu Sani: He is the present Commissioner of Police in kano State, popularly reffered to as ‘Kalamu Waheed’.

    Sani, who was once served as Commissioner of Police in Bauchi state is regarded as a no nonsense man.

    Sani was the hatchet man who executed the removal of former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido from the palace after the State Governor announced the emir’s sack. It was reported that his ability to conduct that mission and maintain peace after was hailed by many.

    He was born into a royal family in Sokoto in 1964 and joined the Nigeria Police Force in 1992 after completing a degree in Geography Education at the Usman Danfodio University.

    Like Abba Kyari, Sani has a rich experience in intelligence operation and has held various positions in the unit including Head of Technical Intelligence at the Police Headquarters and Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB).

    Sani also served as United Nations training co-ordinator for a peace keeping mission in South Sudan from 2006-2007.

    As the situation unfolds, Magu’s travails seem to persist, as the presidency’s handling of the investigation was described by a top presidential official as a bold statement that nobody under the Buhari administration is above the law.

    On Tuesday, a combined team of riot policemen and operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) stormed the residence of Magu,

    According Premium Times, a source close to the presidential panel set up to investigate Magu said operatives were detailed to conduct searches at Magu’s private home in Karu and his official residence in the Maitama District of the Nigerian capital.

    Tobiloba Kolawole

  • EFCC boss, Magu suspended over fraud allegation, SERAP fears powerplay

    EFCC boss, Magu suspended over fraud allegation, SERAP fears powerplay

    The embattled Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, has been suspended by the Presidency pending when a decision will be taken on him.

    The anti corruption agency chief was arrested on Monday by a combined team of Department of State Services personnel and policemen at the Wuse II office of the EFCC to face an interagency committee investigating corruption allegations against him.

    Echotitbits reported earlier Tuesday morning how the fate of the embattled EFCC Chairman-Magu hangs in balance

    He was detained at the FCID in Area 10, Abuja, on Monday night on the orders of the committee that also questioned him on Tuesday morning.

    Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has expressed “concerns about reports that the apparently arbitrary arrest of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, may be ‘the outcome of power-play’ at the highest levels of government.”

    In a statement issued on Tuesday by the Deputy Director of the agency, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “The reported statement by a member of PACAC seems to suggest that Magu’s arrest may be politically motivated and aim to undermine the independence and freedom of action of the EFCC. If true, this would make a mockery of Buhari’s oft-repeated commitment to fight grand corruption and the impunity of perpetrators, which is fuelling widespread and systemic corruption in the country.”

    Oluwadare, therefore, urged the authorities to afford Magu his constitutionally and internationally guaranteed fair trial rights.

    “Magu must either be charged with a recognizable criminal offence or released immediately and allowed to do his job without fear of reprisals,” the statement read in part.

    “Nigerian authorities cannot continue to keep Magu in detention under suspicious circumstances without bringing any legitimate charges against him in violation of national and international law.

    “Nigerian authorities must support the independence and freedom of action of anti-corruption agencies and institutions if they are to be able to genuinely fight grand corruption, which has for many years turned public service for many into a kind of criminal enterprise.”

    “Nigerian authorities should focus on addressing the impact of corruption such as political violence, and denial of access for millions of Nigerians to even the most basic health and education services, as well as other patterns of human rights violations.

    “Improving the independence of anti-corruption agencies and institutions is the most promising way to make tangible progress in the fight against corruption now and in the near future.

    “Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Nigeria is a state party guarantee to everyone the right to liberty and security of person, and that no one should be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.

    “Similarly, Section 35(1) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) guarantees to every person the right to personal liberty and that no person should be arbitrarily deprived of such liberty.”