After a perceived lull in diligent corruption fight, the appointment of Ibrahim Mustapha Magu as replacement for Ibrahim Lamorde at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may herald a change of tempo, writes Correspondent, SAM NWOKORO.
Leading a squad for effective fight against corruption in Nigeria is much like leading a troop to fight the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East part of the country. This counter-insurgency fight is one Nigeria has been prosecuting since 2009 and is yet to articulate any measurable progress. The killings and bombings have not stopped. The aids have been coming in. But you don’t throw in money reconstructing an area when the catastrophe is still rampaging like Hurricane Andrew (sorry Hurricane Boko).
Nigeria’s war against corruption is a multi-faceted war. It has many triangles and hydra-like tentacles. Even with sundry international collaborations, it has not been easy. Even trusted ones who were helping to fight the war could turn out to be the ones making things more difficult, by sundry misdeeds or mis-steps as the case may be.
In a country like Nigeria where age-old preconceptions and mistrust of public officials pervade, getting someone to lead the war against graft and its many offshoots such as: giving accurate account of recovered loot, being honest and trustworthy in the task of investigations, arraignment and prosecution as well as following diligently probate processes efficiently to obtain conviction and recovery of loot are such that require not just any Nigerian public officer, but a real macho, revolutionary, public-spirited, morally-conscious person. Has Nigeria now found that with the recent appointment of Magu, the replacement for Ibrahim Lamorde who has proceeded on terminal leave?
Perhaps only the days ahead will prove that. For now, it is accepted by members of the public that his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari was in line with his promise to give more bite to the anti-graft war. Directing Lamorde to proceed on terminal leave gives credence to the belief that he has presided over an institution that has, even before he became chairman at the expiration of Farida Waziri’s tenure in 2011, become notorious for ineptitude.
Albatross of a czar
If for anything else, the EFCC, which Magu is inheriting, is one that has been at the receiving end of Nigerians’ ambivalence over public institutions. In the very crucial department of erecting worthwhile values for national growth, the EFCC, for as long as it has existed, been an irritating puzzle. It postures more than it performs. Its public image has been like that of the sorcerer’s magic mirror: the more you look, the less you see; the more questions you ask, the more confused you get. It seems to be bureaucracy at odds with modern anti-crime institutions like others elsewhere whose activities run on seamless blend of human ingenuity and techno-wizardry.
Nigerians are wont to point to a litany of absurdities in the agency’s operations that tend to put it poles apart from its contemporaries elsewhere: susceptibility to executive manipulations, inability to maintain a stable principle in honour and decorum before the parliament, always falling prey to traps set by those it is prosecuting, and of course its record of poor prosecutorial capability. Many times, EFCC has fallen below the passmark of public scrutiny which could probably be why the president believed he needed a new broom in a new house he is envisioning in his “change” mandate.
Magu would be coming to the EFCC with, of course, a full dossier about the mindset of his boss and what the retired General expects him to do as the anti-graft czar.
President Buhari had made it clear, not just by body language, but also by his foot works which has seen him criss-cross various parts of the globe in search of Nigeria’s stolen funds, that he is going to give the fight against corruption more needed bite.
Magu would be coming to the job not as new man who would need to study files endlessly before knowing where to start, but as a trusted insider who, along with Lamorde, initially stamped the integrity of the EFCC into public consciousness going by the ferocity with which both men attended to the task of hunting down corrupt public officials in the dizzying days of year 2000 to as late as 2007 before the coming of Farida Waziri who took over from first EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu.
High points
For effect, Magu was a honed crime-buster, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) between 2005 and 2009 when his impact in the agency was at its zenith. He is also a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on anti-corruption and was a former Head of Economic Governance Unit (EGU) of the EFCC. During this time, he handled high profile investigations on some governors and top public officers. Though only few convictions followed, the public was impressed that the agency was making startling discoveries.
After Ribadu’s removal as EFCC boss in 2007, he had a not-too-smooth working relation with Waziri. In August 2008, he was accused of keeping case files of top politicians being investigated by the commission. His house in Abuja then was searched and property carted away by same EFCC operatives under Waziri’s directive. But for all that the crisis of confidence in the agency lasted, the man did not betray the agency nor undermined the authority of the government he served. He also effectively coordinated Nigeria’s anti-corruption partnership agreement with some partner countries – United Kingdom, United States of America, Switzerland etc.
Many anti-terror and anti-narcotic partnership treaties and conventions entered into between Nigeria and others were effectively witnessed by Magu and Lamorde, and, of course, as citizen Adebola Mudashiru said in reaction to his appointment: “Magu proved integrity when he was being harassed by the queen of the agency, Farida Waziri. He has also benefitted from series of training programmes of the agency over the years. He would not be learning on the job. PMB was wise in appointing him.”
Others also believed that Lamorde has expended his trusts. He is said to have given his best, but lost steam in the fight when he started tampering with recovered loot, allegations he is yet to clear himself from.
Testimonial
Nigerian media even have positive views about Magu. One editorial said of him: “Mr. Magu was one of the early recruits into the EFCC by the pioneer chairman of the commission, Nuhu Ribadu. He is seen by peers as an incorruptible and courageous officer and then made the head of the sensitive EGU, a unit in charge of investigations of senior public officials.
But trouble started for the police officer after the controversial removal of Ribadu as chairman of the commission in December 2007. The new chairman, Waziri, was uncomfortable with his presence, doubting his loyalty to her, sources say.
After his Abuja house was searched, Magu was subsequently re-deployed to the police after days of detention with nothing incriminating found against him. He was later suspended from the police, going without salaries for several months.
Following his appointment as Chairman of the EFCC in 2011, Lamorde made the return of Magu to the EFCC a priority. Both men had worked together at the commission when Lamorde served as Head of Operations.
In a letter written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on March 19, 2012, titled ‘Re: Postings/Transfer and Secondments of Police Officers to the EFCC’, Lamorde put Magu as top on the list of police officers he wanted to be deployed to the EFCC.
Another citizen spoke glowingly about Magu as a possible replica of Ribadu in EFCC: “Magu is the best replacement for Nuhu Ribadu. I sincerely urge those whose case files had been swept under the carpet to wholeheartedly file fresh petitions. The Magu I know is incorruptible. You cannot bribe him. He was Ribadu’s most trusted lieutenant who, as the Head of the Economic Governance Unit of the EFCC, touched the untouchables. Magu waged anti-corruption war to even the admiration of international community. He successfully brought the likes of Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of Abia State; Joshua Dariye, former governor of Plateau State; George Akume, former governor of Benue State; Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State; and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State, including James Ibori of Delta State and a host of others, to their knees.”
Yet another lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, said: “With Magu in the saddle, corrupt people in the country had better sit up. Magu was nearly killed in the course of investigating some powerful politicians in the Niger Delta. He was posted by the then Chairman of the EFCC, Farida Waziri, to Delta State, nobody gave him a chance of survival.”
Real change
Public expectation on the new anti-graft czar is very high. The public expectation are justified because of some bad memories in recent times. Yet the good thing is that the man has a good standing before the public and the endorsement. And this, psychologists say, are essential for performance output.