Buhari receives panel's report on suspended EFCC boss Magu

Samson Toromade 11:48 - 20 November 2020

Ibrahim Magu (left) shakes hands with President Muhammadu Buhari (right) [EFCC]

A total of 114 witnesses, including Magu, appeared and testified before the panel.

President Muhammadu Buhari has received a report on the allegations against Ibrahim Magu, the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Chairperson of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, Justice Ayo Salami, presented the panel's report to Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Friday, November 20, 2020.

Magu was arrested on July 6 to answer questions about his stewardship of the anti-graft agency before the panel.

He was suspended by President Buhari after his arrest, and was detained for weeks while the commission questioned him.

Allegations made against him include misappropriations of funds, and the illegal disposal of assets recovered from corruption cases.

Justice Salami said a total of 114 witnesses, including Magu, appeared and testified before the panel, with a total of 46 petitions and memos received as complaints against the suspended EFCC boss.

He said the panel also embarked on a nationwide physical verification of recovered forfeited assets comprising real estates, automobiles, vessels and non-cash assets.

President Muhammadu Buhari (left) with Justice Ayo Salami (right) [Presidency]

President Muhammadu Buhari (left) receives the panel's report from Justice Ayo Salami (right) over four months after Magu was first arrested and questioned [Presidency]

Buhari reiterated his administration's resolve to clamp down on corruption so as to protect Nigerian's political and economic systems.

"I want Nigeria to be counted among those countries that do not tolerate but fight corruption," he said.

He said there's corruption at many levels of government and called on all stakeholders to join the fight against it to protect the country's future.

The 77-year-old said it's an abomination for an anti-graft agency leading the war against corruption to also be accused of corruption.

"Let it be known that in the fight against corruption, no one is too big to tackle, as no individual is bigger than the Nigerian State," he said.

Magu, a Commissioner of Police, has denied all allegations against him, and expressed his sadness at being treated like a 'common criminal'.

He has been the EFCC's acting chairman since 2015, with his full appointment rejected twice by the Senate due to a damaging security report about his unsuitability for the role.

The report by the Department of State Service (DSS) had accused him of sabotage, unauthorised removal of EFCC files, and acts unbecoming of a police officer.