The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), has insisted that only President Muhammadu
Buhari has the utmost power to determine the fate of the acting Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
Malami said this on a Channels TV programme titled,
‘Question Time’ over the weekend.
Magu has been rejected twice by the senate for confirmation
as the EFFC substantive chairman following a damming report against him by the
DSS.
When the AGF was asked if it was proper for Magu to continue
in acting capacity despite being rejected twice by the Senate, he said, “I
cannot comment on the position of my office but one thing I can tell you
clearly is that power is vested in the President constitutionally and it is the
President that has the prerogative and the right to make any conclusion that
arises from there.”
When probed further if Magu’s integrity challenge would not
affect the anti-graft war, Malami said he wouldn’t, “like to pre-empt the
position of the presidency over that.”
Malami, however, denied reports that the anti-corruption war
was selective.
Meanwhile, the Senate has said that the report by the DSS
sent to Malami on Magu’sintegrity, has vindicated the upper chamber.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs,
Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, in a statement on Saturday, said the documentary
evidence made available to the AGF by the DSS had justified the Senate.
Abdullahi said, “Following several calls made to me today by
journalists seeking my comments on the leaked report on Mr. Ibrahim Magu, which
was more damning than the one submitted to us, I can only say that myself and
my colleagues have been vindicated.
“From that report, which is now public, it is obvious that
the DG DSS even tried to give Magu soft landing in the report that was sent to
the Senate. The recent report is messier and shows that our decision not to
confirm his nomination was right.”
No comments:
Post a Comment