*Says he’s nightmares to corrupt people
*Says Magu will remain as EFCC boss in Buhari’s tenure
*We need to build prison for corrupt persons in Sambisa forest – Magu
*Shehu Sani walks out of the event as El’Rufai arrives
Apparently referring to the Senate and its leadership, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) has sent a strong warning to the lawmakers over President Muhammadu Buhari’s power to appoint anybody into office in line with section 171 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
According to Osinbajo, the Senate cannot dictate to him or the President on whom to appoint, saying that nobody can remove the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, from office during the tenure of the present administration.
Speaking in Kaduna on Thursday while commissioning a zonal office of the EFCC, Osinbajo described Magu as a “nightmare for corrupt people”.
The acting president, who was represented by Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai reaffirmed that the presidency has so much confidence in the acting chairman of the EFCC.
El-Rufai then said, “Mr Chairman, two weeks ago, I discussed the EFCC and your appointment with President Muhammadu Buhari and he told me he has every confidence in you and every confidence in the commission and the work that you have been doing, and as long as he is president you remain the chairman of the EFCC.”
The governor also told the gathering that the Acting President was also solidly behind Magu.
He said, “Last night, I spoke with the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who reconfirmed the position of the President and told me that as long as he remained the Acting President or Vice President, Ibrahim Magu would remain the chairman of the EFCC.
“That is the only message from the President, so those thinking that corruption is winning this war, Magu would remain their nightmare for the next two years or six years as the case may be.’’
In his personal remarks, el-Rufai said that over N500 million had been recovered from corrupt officials of the past government and some contractors in Kaduna state, adding “those officials would be handed over to the EFCC for prosecution.”
The governor had earlier said his administration donated the office to the EFCC to demonstrate its “zero tolerance to bad behaviour by public office holders, contractors, businesses and citizens.
El-rufai applauded the the leadership of the EFCC for taking significant step to establish a state office in Kaduna.
The governor assured that the commission can continue to count on government of Kaduna for support in every aspect of its activities.
“We have set aside land for your training school awaiting the submission of your application.
“We have also set aside land to build your staff housing estate if you so require.”
He said the state was first to adopt the Federal Government policy on Single Treasury Account (TSA).
The governor explained that as a result of that, over N25bn was realised by the government after it closed about 470 accounts with commercial banks.
He said the anti-graft agency had assisted the state government in recovering over N400m from corrupt public officials.
In his earlier remarks, the acting chairman of the EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu called on members of the public to support the agency in the fight against corruption in the country.
Magu said that Nigerians must rise and do what is expected of them to reclaim their commonwealth been “stolen by a few corrupt individuals.”
He said; “If we can pause and trace the root cause of the problem that confronts us as a nation, we will discover they are all linked to corruption.
“Corruption is the cause of the recession that has pushed our people deeper into poverty and the insurgency that has visited death, displacement and untold hardship on Nigerians in the North East.
This is the reason I have suggested that we set up prison for the corrupt in the Sambisa forest, where they can be kept away and have the sobriety to be truly reformed.”
Meanwhile, the long drawn battle line between the Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-rufai, and the Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial district, Senator Shehu Sani, took a new twist as Senator Sani walked out of the venue of the event, following the arrival of the governor.
But the Senator had arrived early and had begun to fraternize himself with the environment when he noticed the arrival of the entourage of El-rufai but could not hold his displeasure as the stormed out of the venue and drove off.
Commenting on the development, Senator Sani said, “I honoured the invitation to launch the zonal office of the EFCC and to participate in a stakeholder’s forum.
“I don’t think someone invited in this event fits into the philosophy and principles of the EFCC.
“I don’t know how the EFCC can squarely investigate corruption cases in Kaduna with some of these characters cutting the tape of their new abode.”
No comments:
Post a Comment