Confirm Magu without further delay, groups tell senate

A coalition of Civil Society Groups (CSOs) have called on the leadership of the senate to immediately confirm Ibrahim Magu, acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

In a statement on Sunday, seven CSOs said the confirmation of Magu would give a boost to the ongoing fight against corruption in the country.

The CSOs are; Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), Social-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Publish What You Pay(PWYP) Nigeria and Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA).

“This latest call on the national assembly reiterates an earlier call made by the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, (ANEEJ) in August 2016 in the wake of delays in the confirmation of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as substantive Chairman of the EFCC,” the statement read.

“The group, rising from the recently concluded National Conference on the Role of the Legislature in the Fight Against Corruption, organised by the national assembly and the presidency, noted that prior to the process leading to the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the commission, the national assembly went on recess.

“Interestingly, the senate has since reconvened, screened and confirmed justices of Supreme Court and Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) forwarded to it long after the submission of Mr. Magu’s name for confirmation as EFCC’s chairman by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Section 2 of the EFCC Act says ‘there shall be a chairman who shall be the chief executive officer of the commission, and who shall not be below the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of police. He is to be saddled with the responsibility of running the anti-crime commission’.

“The groups verily believe that Mr. Magu, a deputy commissioner of police, meets and exceeds this requirement, and therefore his confirmation as EFCC chairman without further delay will give the anti-corruption fight the boost it needs to end the culture of impunity and systemic corruption in Nigeria, representatives of the coalition stated in a release.

“Members of the platform (ANEEJ, CACOL, CSNAC, Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), and Publish What You Pay) contends that the security of tenure for the leadership of the anti-corruption agencies saddled with the task of tackling the debilitating effects of corruption is a globally recognized principle for guaranteeing the independence of anti-corruption agencies.”

The CSOs said the lack of a defined tenure for heads of anti-corruption agencies is a major limitation to the fight against corruption in the country.