Magu remains EFCC acting chairman, Osinbajo insists

• Commission to build prison in Sambisa forest

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has said that as long as he is in office, Ibrahim Magu will remain the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes

Commission(EFCC). Osinbajo’s declaration came yesterday barely 48 hours after the Senate issued a statement asking the acting president to remove the EFCC boss.

The acting president who was represented by the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, at the commissioning of the Kaduna zonal office of the EFCC, said he had the same confidence and conviction President Muhammadu Buhari had about Magu’s capability to function effectively as the EFCC helmsman.

“Shortly before the president left the country, I asked him about Magu and the president said he believed in what he was doing and had his support. I want to also affirm here that Magu has my support. As far as I remain the acting president, Magu remains,” Osinbajo said.

In his address, Magu canvassed the support of the Federal Government to embark on the building of a prison custody in the Boko Haram-infested Sambisa Forest for those arrested and convicted for corruption.

He explained that for the prison to become a reality, the judiciary should cooperate with the commission.According to him, illegal money is likely to be abandoned by corrupt persons at the nation’s airports and other places in near future as it happened at Kaduna Airport some months ago.

Magu warned that if concerted efforts were not made to rid the country of corruption, the monster would infest the citizens and adversely affect the nation’s economy.“We call for the establishment of a prison in Sambisa Forest in order to keep away corrupt people from our midst. In this case, the judiciary has direct influence to help in the fight against corruption, but concerted efforts are being made by some big Nigerians to neutralise the fight against corruption. We must change the narrative by fighting back those that do not want the fight to succeed,” he said.

Earlier, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, Prof. Femi Odekunle, said the panel was behind Magu for his commitment in the fight against corruption. “We are not going to be cajoled by any technicalities. We will support the commission because most of our leaders are corrupt,” he said.On the festering executive/legislature stalemate, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has cautioned the Senate against grounding governance by the threat to suspend work on any nominee presented to it by Osinbajo until the controversial issue of the confirmation of appointments of presidential nominees by the lawmakers is resolved.

The Senate also said that its resolve followed the position of the presidency to defy its advice that Magu should be removed as the acting chairman of the EFCC.The TUC Chairman in Ekiti State, Odunayo Adesoye, who spoke in Ado Ekiti, yesterday, declared that the senators’ actions might be termed unpatriotic, if their resolution were carried out.

“This is a very sensitive issue and the Senate must think about it critically, because the government will run into a standstill if such a threat is carried out. The National Assembly shouldn’t be emotional over Osinbajo’s statement, because this country belongs to all of us,” he said.

Meanwhile, a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti, Senator Ayo Arise has cautioned politicians, especially members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) against undermining the powers of the acting president. Arise described the comment of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami dissociating the FEC from Osinbajo’s comment where he challenged the powers of the Senate to approve federal appointees as unfortunate. He said he never expected any political appointee to address the acting president in that manner.

In an interview with The Guardian after the meeting of prominent Yoruba leaders in Ibadan, Arise said Osinbajo deserved all the courtesies of a president because he was constitutionally vested with all the powers of the president.

“Since there cannot be two masters at the same time, Osinbajo deserves respect from all Nigerians as the acting president. I understand that he made the statement when he was a vice president, not as acting president, that could have been his personal opinion from his knowledge of the law, but I did not expect the AGF to make such a public statement because he knows who is exercising the full powers of president of this country today.

“I think it is time for us to begin to respect the constitution, its spirit and letters. The moment we begin to challenge that constitution, it is a recipe for crisis.“I don’t know what informed the comment, I expected him to talk to the acting president privately, who may come to the public to declare his comment as a personal opinion. If there is an error, it should be resolved internally instead of making it public. The constitution is very clear, as a professor of law and responsible person, he deserves respect. Anybody challenging him has a whole of Yoruba race to contend with. I see myself as a Nigerian but when somebody is trying to rubbish the constitution that binds us together, we shall all rise up to resist it,” he said.

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