The charade that took place at the Nigerian senate few days ago, regarding Ibrahim Magu confirmation as Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is another indication of how low the National Assembly has sunk. It has been clear for couple of months now that the senate has no intention of confirming Ibrahim Magu as substantive EFCC chairman. His confirmation hearing has been delayed and postponed for a while now. The senate purposely delayed this confirmation in-order to find reasons to reject his confirmation.
Well, they ended up finding couple of reasons from false security report supplied by another corrupt agency, Department of State Security (DSS). DSS is one agency in Nigeria that cannot seem to get anything right. They have bungled numerous high profile assignments. Their most recent fiasco was the arrest of suspected corrupt judges. Their investigation and actual arrest of the affected judges was bungled so bad that the president had to order them to hand over the judge’s file to EFCC so they will conduct proper investigation and file charges against them. They have held leader of the shites religious sect for more than a year without charging him to court.
Mr. Ibrahim Magu has displayed great courage in the war against corruption. Only former EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu did as much as he has done since the establishment of EFCC. He has done quite a lot since he was nominated and corrupt government officials and politicians are not happy with him due to his effectiveness. They still want unfettered access to Nigerian treasury so they can continue to loot and plunder the national treasury as they wish. Corruption is fighting back. A lot of former governors and some government officials who are facing prosecution for various financial crime offenses want him gone so they can get a corrupt or ineffective EFCC chairman they can compromise. Former EFCC chairman, Nuhu Ribadu was forced out for being tough as well.
What is curious about this security reports is that it came from another agency (DSS) that is under the control of the executive branch. Didn’t the president seek security report form DSS or other agencies before nominating him. It was well known that president Buhari’s chief of staff does not like Mr. Magu and has been plotting for his removal. I do not think that DSS would have sent such report without the knowledge of president Buhari. One can only conclude that it appears that the president developed cold feet or soared on Mr. Magu’s confirmation as EFCC chairman.
The only way to characterize this fiasco is that it is a sad day for Nigeria and Nigerians. Group of people have held this country hostage and have no intention of giving up. Nigeria frequently take one step forward and two steps backward. The disturbing thing about this unfortunate situation is that corrupt senators will be embolden by this rejection and will probably do the same for the next nominee, and may even go after sitting anti-corruption head of other agencies. Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) will be next. Senators and national assembly members will soon seek immunity for their members under the guise that they need it to do their job. State House of Assembly members will follow suit. These are things that will likely happen if the president does not stand firm. Nigeria experiment in democracy will come to an end if corruption is not brought under control. Mr. Buhari should re-nominate Mr. Magu as EFCC chairman and show that he cannot be intimated if he is not in agreement with the senate action. Nigerian’s are tired and desperate for answers and may lose hope in democracy.