President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Nigerian Senate,
re-nominating Ibrahim Magu, for confirmation as the chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC.
This is coming barely Five weeks after the upper chamber of the National
Assembly rejected Magu’s confirmation basing its reason on security report
from the Department of State Security (DSS).
The president, in the letter which was read out on the floor of the Senate
by President of the Senate Bukola Saraki, explained that he took
administrative steps to ensure the speedy clarification of the security
report which the senate relied upon to take its decision to rejecting
Ibrahim Magu.
Buhari in the letter also informed the senate that Magu, has been cleared
of corruption charges, following an investigation into allegations against
him, in a report by the Attorney General of the Federation.?
In the same vein, President Buhari wrote another letter to the Senate
picking holes in the interim committee report indicting the Secretary to
the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal for his alleged role in
the contract implementation regime of the presidential innitiative on the
northeast.
According to the letter from the president, the interim report upon which
the Senate based its resolution seeking the resignation and prosecution of
the SGF was in breach of senate rules because only three senators out of
nine committee members signed the report, stating that Lawal was not given
an opportunity to defend himself before a panel of the Ad-hoc committee.
The president in the letter informed the Senate that he could not approve
the upper chambers resolution seeking the resignation and prosecution of
the SGF
However, reacting to the letter, chairman of the committee, Senator Shehu
Sani notes that the presidents letter does not reflect the anti corruption
drive of the administration.
He stated further that corruption in the judiciary and others is treated
with Insecticide while corruption in the government is treated with
deodorant.
The Senate is yet to officially respond to the communication from the
Presidency?.