By Kolawole Ojebisi
Mr. Mohammed Umar, the Director of Operations at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been asked to oversee the affairs of the anti-corruption agency in the meantime, following the reported suspension of its embattled boss, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
A source, who asked not to be named, said Umar was chosen by the “EFCC’s hierarchy” after news broke out that Magu had been suspended, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) disclosed in a report Tuesday evening.
The top EFCC official, however, said that the commission had not received any official communication on the reported suspension of Magu.
Efforts to reach EFCC Spokesman, Mr Dele Oyewale, has proven unyielding as he continues to decline calls seeking to confirm the latest development.
The embattled acting chairman is being interrogated by a presidential panel set up to probe allegations of gross misconduct against him.
Magu appeared before the Ayo Salami-led panel on Monday before he was reportedly taken into police custody.
Meanwhile, the EFCC official has defended Magu against the allegations, saying they were not true.
However, the source said his travails also emanated from complaints by staff of the commission over poor welfare and delay in promotion.
“I can tell you that all the allegations against Magu are untrue. I see the whole situation as a power play.
“Preparations for the 2023 elections are another reason they want Magu out because he knows too much.
“Another thing is the problem of staff welfare, imagine somebody like me for close to 10 years, I have not gained any promotion.
“We are not happy about the news of his suspension, but I know that members of staff are not happy with him,” the official said.
Meanwhile, another new development to the travails of the suspended EFCC boss emerged Tuesday night.
It was gathered that despite being in detention his personal effects have been moved from his official residence in Maitama by some people believed to be his family members. Some hours before his belongings were moved out of his Maitama residence, it was learnt that a combined team of riot policemen and operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) had searched his official residence in Maitama, Abuja purportedly in search of incriminating evidence against him.
The search conducted at his Maitama official residence was after operatives had thoroughly searched his private residence in Karu.
A family source who spoke in confidence said Magu is still with the presidential panel.
“As I speak with you our men are on their way to Maitama, having finished with his house in Karu,” the source said.
According to reports, security operatives arrived the house around 7:30pm in a convoy of four vehicles and spent over an hour searching the residence
“They searched the house but found nothing so they wrote a report and both of us signed,” said a security guard in the house who was not authorised to speak.
Magu was reportedly suspended on Tuesday by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration amidst allegations bordering on insurbordination and corruption.
Though presidency was yet to issue an official statement to confirm Magu’s suspension, a source at the presidency informed on Tuesday that the probe of the anti-graft boss was an affirmation that nobody under “the present administration is above scrutiny’’.
The source, who could neither confirm nor deny the suspension of Magu as reported by traditional and social media outfits, maintained that the investigation of the EFCC boss was to reinforce the Buhari administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
He affirmed that the holder of an elevated office such as the chairman of the EFCC must be above suspicion.
The source said: “The panel investigating allegations against the Acting EFCC Chairman had been sitting for some weeks now.
“In consonance with the principle of fairness and justice, it was needful that the Acting Chairman be given the opportunity to respond to the allegations, which are weighty in nature.
“Under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, nobody is above scrutiny. The investigation is to reinforce transparency and accountability, rather than to vitiate it.
“Accountability for our actions or inactions is an inalienable part of democracy. In such an elevated position as that of EFCC Chairman, the holder of the position must be above suspicion.
“There’s no prejudgment — absolutely none. The Buhari administration can be counted on to uphold fairness and justice at all times.”
